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. 2024 Mar 7;16(6):1080. doi: 10.3390/cancers16061080

Table 2.

Patients’ baseline characteristics in the training and validation groups subdivided by presence of sarcopenia.

Training Group (n = 215) Validation Group (n = 113)
Sarcopenic Group
(n = 103)		 Non-Sarcopenic Group
(n = 112)		 p Sarcopenic Group
(n = 56)		 Non-Sarcopenic Group
(n = 57)		 p
Age 69 (IQR 13.0) 68 (IQR 16.8) 0.211 71.5 (IQR 13.0) 67.0 (IQR 16.0) 0.073
Sex (male) 87 (84.5%) 96 (85.7%) 0.849 37 (66.1%) 52 (91.2%) 0.001
Etiology
  •   -

    HCV

  •   -

    HBV

  •   -

    Alcohol

  •   -

    Other

 0.176 0.018
46 (44.7%) 39 (34.8%) 33 (58.9%) 21 (36.8%)
19 (18.4%) 15 (13.4%) 9 (16.1%) 8 (14.0%)
10 (9.7%) 17 (15.2%) 4 (7.1%) 16 (28.1%)
28 (27.2%) 41 (36.6%) 10 (17.9%) 12 (21.1%)
BMI 26.06 (IQR 5.65) 24.9 (IQR 6.13) 0.699 23.55 (IQR 5.48) 24.8 (IQR 4.00) 0.043
INR 1.15 (IQR 0.18) 1.16 (IQR 0.20) 0.482 1.10 (IQR 0.17) 1.08 (IQR 0.17) 0.984
Ascites 35 (34%) 28 (25%) 0.177 12 (21.4%) 11 (19.3%) 0.819
Bilirubin (mg/dL) 1.02 (IQR 0.84) 1.04 (0.83) 0.282 1.00 (IQR 0.85) 0.90 (IQR 0.80) 0.640
Albumin (g/dL) 3.5 (IQR 0.60) 3.5 (IQR 0.68) 0.280 3.80 (IQR 0.78) 3.80 (IQR 0.70) 0.175
ALBI score −2.16 (IQR 0.73) −2.22 (IQR 0.68) 0.626 −2.27 (0.79) −2.40 (0.58) 0.119
CTP class
  •   -

    A

  •   -

    B

 0.348 0.235
74 (71.8%) 87 (77.7%) 43 (76.8%) 49 (86.0%)
29 (28.2%) 25 (22.3%) 13 (23.2%) 8 (14.0%)
MELD 9 (IQR 3) 9 (IQR 3) 0.349 8 (IQR 3) 8 (IQR 3) 0.542
Presence of varices 57 (55.3%) 50 (44.6%) 0.134 34 (60.7%) 31 (54.4%) 0.570
Platelets (×109/mmc) 138 (IQR 109) 123.5 (IQR 96.5) 0.153 126.5 (IQR 95.5) 113 (IQR 146) 0.274
ECOG-PS
  •   -

    0

  •   -

    1

  •   -

    2

 0.693 0.192
50 (48.5%) 58 (51.8%) 19 (33.9%) 21 (36.8%)
37 (35.9%) 41 (36.6%) 27 (48.2%) 19 (33.3%)
16 (15.5%) 13 (11.6%) 10 (17.9%) 17 (29.8%)
AFP (ng/mL) 43.0 (IQR 484.0) 30.4 (IQR 549.5) 0.825 67 (IQR 547.8) 58 (IQR 465.5) 0.703
Macrovascular invasion 39 (37.9%) 33 (29.5%) 0.197 12 (21.4%) 9 (15.8%) 0.477
Metastasis 36 (35.0%) 22 (19.6%) 0.014 14 (25.0%) 12 (21.1%) 0.660
BCLC
  •   -

    A

  •   -

    B

  •   -

    C

 0.066 0.819
3 (2.9%) 0
13 (12.6%) 23 (20.5%) 12 (21.4%) 11 (19.3%)
87 (84.5%) 89 (79.5%) 44 (78.6%) 46 (80.7%)
CLIP
  •   -

    0

  •   -

    1

  •   -

    2

  •   -

    3

  •   -

    4

  •   -

    5

 0.479 0.271
13 (12.6%) 9 (8.0%) 4 (7.1%) 7 (12.3%)
28 (27.2%) 32 (28.6%) 14 (25.0%) 11 (19.3%)
35 (34.0%) 39 (34.8%) 17 (30.4%) 24 (42.1%)
23 (22.3%) 21 (18.8%) 19 (33.9%) 11 (19.3%)
4 (3.9%) 10 (8.9%) 2 (3.6%) 4 (7.0%)
0 1 (0.9%) 0 0
PROSASH-II model 0.341 ± 0.484 0.311 ± 0.436 0.565 0.286 ± 0.392 0.227 ± 0.41 0.312
Treatment duration (days) 116 (IQR 196) 142 (IQR 203.3) 0.152 103.5 (IQR 297.5) 192.0 (IQR 297.5) 0.008
Adverse effects (AE) 84 (81.6%) 100 (89.3%) 0.122 47 (83.9%) 49 (86.0%) 0.798
Severe AE 31 (30.1%) 28 (25.0%) 0.446 19 (33.9%) 17 (29.8%) 0.689
Cause of Sorafenib discontinuation
  •   -

    Still on treatment

  •   -

    Progressive disease

  •   -

    Adverse effects

  •   -

    Independent cause

  •   -

    Death

 0.078 0.645
2 (1.9%) 3 (2.7%) 0 0
46 (44.7%) 66 (58.9%) 20 (35.7%) 25 (43.9%)
28 (27.2%) 30 (26.8%) 26 (46.4%) 20 (35.1%)
10 (9.7%) 5 (4.5%) 5 (8.9%) 5 (8.8%)
17 (16.5%) 8 (7.1%) 5 (8.9%) 7 (12.3%)

Data are expressed as medians and interquartile ranges (IQRs) (in parenthesis) or percentages. Comparisons between groups were made by χ2 test or Fisher’s exact test (2-tailed) for qualitative variables, and the Mann-Whitney test or Kruskal–Wallis test for quantitative variables. Significant p-values are highlighted in bold. Abbreviations: AFP, Alpha-fetoprotein; ALBI, Albumin-Bilirubin; BCLC, Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer; BMI, Body Mass Index; CLIP, Cancer Liver Italian Program; CTP, Child-Turcotte-Pugh; ECOG-PS, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status; INR, International Normalized Ratio; MELD, Model for End-stage Liver Disease; PROSASH-II, Prediction of Survival in Advanced Sorafenib-treated HCC-II.