TABLE 2.
Hepatocellular carcinoma risk among aspirin users
| No. of studies | Sample size | HR | 95% confidence interval | p value | I2 (%) | p value for Cochran Q test of heterogeneity | Subgroup difference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aspirin | ||||||||
| Overall | 11 | 2,190,285 | 0.43 | 0.27–0.87 | 0.01 * | 99.50 | 0.00 | |
| Cirrhosis | 5 | 46,526 | 0.68 | 0.51–0.91 | 0.01 * | 84.90 | <0.01 | |
| Hepatitis B | 5 | 97,643 | 0.45 | 0.12–1.60 | 022 | 99.80 | <0.01 | |
| Hepatitis C | 3 | 43,255 | 0.69 | 0.59–0.80 | <0.01 * | 50.20 | 0.13 | |
| Accounted for competing risk of death without HCC | 6 | 142,281 | 0.50 | 0.18–1.36 | 0.17 | 99.70 | <0.01 | - |
| Sex | ||||||||
| Male | 3 | 365,231 | 0.79 | 0.67–0.90 | <0.01 * | 0.00 | 0.39 | 0.66 |
| Female | 3 | 365,231 | 0.71 | 0.46–1.04 | 0.08 | 67.00 | 0.05 | |
| HCC diagnosis method | ||||||||
| Verified by imaging/histology | 4 | 58,907 | 0.28 | 0.06–1.19 | 0.08 | 99.80 | <0.01 | 0.24 |
| ICD codes | 7 | 2,131,378 | 0.66 | 0.54–0.82 | <0.01 * | 93.40 | <0.01 | |
| Accounted for concurrent use of statins, NSAIDs and metformin | ||||||||
| Yes | 8 | 493,285 | 0.53 | 0.23–1.21 | 0.13 | 99.60 | <0.0 | 0.60 |
| No | 3 | 1,697,000 | 0.42 | 0.27–0.64 | <0.01 * | 93.40 | <0.01 | |
| Mean follow-up duration | ||||||||
| <60 months | 2 | 42,545 | 0.74 | 0.63–0.87 | <0.01 * | 0.00 | 0.35 | 0.93 |
| ≥60 months | 2 | 1,134,408 | 0.69 | 0.63–0.75 | <0.01 * | 0.00 | 0.89 | |
Abbreviations: HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma; LT, liver transplantation; ICD, International Classification of Diseases; HR, hazard ratio; I2, level of heterogeneity.
*
Bolded p ≤ 0.05 denotes statistical significance