Table 1.
Baseline demographic, clinical and tumor characteristics of the whole patient cohort before TACE treatment
| Variable | Study population (n = 148) |
|---|---|
| Gender male, n (%) | 104 (70) |
| Age, median (years) (range) | 64 (36–84) |
| Cause of disease, n (%) | |
| HBV | 14 (9) |
| HCV | 85 (57) |
| Alcohol | 19 (13) |
| Multiple etiologies | 17 (12) |
| Unknown | 12 (8) |
| Other | 1 (1) |
| Lesion location, n (%) | |
| Right lobe | 110 (74) |
| Left lobe | 38 (26) |
| TACE Selectivity, n (%) | |
| Lobar | 10 (7) |
| Selective | 73 (49) |
| Superselective | 65 (44) |
| Tumor size, median (cm) (range) | 3.0 (0.8 – 15.0) |
| Milan criteria within, n (%) * | 135 (91) |
| Portal vein thrombosis, n (%) | |
| Absent | 131 (88) |
| Segmental bland thrombosis | 4 (3) |
| Lobar bland thrombosis | 13 (9) |
| Serum AFP, median (ng/mL) (range) | 14.5 (1.0 – 39576.0) |
| Ascites, n (%) | |
| Absent | 120 (81) |
| Slight – Moderate | 23 (16) |
| Severe – Refractory | 5 (3) |
| Encephalopathy, n (%) | |
| Absent | 145 (98) |
| Slight | 3 (2) |
| Serum total bilirubin, median (mg/dL) (range) | 1.34 (0.30 – 10.67) |
| Serum albumin, median (g/dL) (range) | 3.60 (2.10 – 5.00) |
| Serum INR, median (range) | 1.28 (1.00 – 1.97) |
| Hepatic function, n (%) | |
| CPT-A | 92 (62) |
| CPT-B | 56 (38) |
| Performance status, n (%) | |
| 0 | 133 (90) |
| 1 | 15 (10) |
| BCLC stage, n (%) | |
| 0 | 16 (11) |
| A | 104 (70) |
| B | 13 (9) |
| C | 15 (10) |
| MELD score, median (range) | 11 (6 – 24) |
*patients with HCC ≤5 cm.
Abbreviations: HBV hepatits B virus, HCV hepatitis C virus, TACE transarterial chemoembolization, AFP Alpha-fetoprotein, INR international normalized ratio, CPT Child-Pugh-Turcotte score, BCLC Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer, MELD Model for end stage liver disease.