Table I.
Patient characteristics.
| Control group | Cancer rehabilitation group | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Factors | Reference value | Median (IQR) or percentage (n) | Range (min-max) | Median (IQR) or percentage (n) | Range (min-max) | P-value |
| Observation period | N/A | 424 (233–734) | 13–1180 | 522 (345.5–835) | 56-1038.2 | 0.0299 |
| Number, n | N/A | 67 | 85 | |||
| Age, years | N/A | 74.0 (68.0–78.0) | 41.0–85.0 | 75.0 (71.0–80.0) | 63.0–91.0 | 0.0371 |
| Sex, female/male | N/A | 30%/70% (20/47) | N/A | 40%/60% (34/51) | N/A | 0.1943 |
| Body mass index, kg/m2 | 18.5–24.9 | 22.3 (20.4–23.9) | 16.0–32.7 | 23.0 (21.0–25.7) | 16.7–37.8 | 0.0597 |
| Etiology of liver disease, AIH/ Alcohol/HBV/HCV/NASH/others | N/A | 0%/11.9%/6%/76.1%/4.5%/1.5% (0/8/4/51/3/1) | N/A | 3.5%/10.6%/9.4%/63.5%/1.2%/11.8% (3/11/8/54/1/8) | N/A | 0.0901 |
| Viremia of HCV, presence/absence | N/A | 44/7 | N/A | 41/13 | N/A | 0.1771 |
| HCC stage, I/II/III/IV | N/A | 4.5%/23.9%/44.8%/26.8% (3/16/30/18) | N/A | 10.6%/38.8%/31.8%/18.8% (9/33/27/16) | N/A | 0.0675 |
| BCLC classification, stage A/B/C | N/A | 4.5%/82.1%/13.4% (3/55/9) | N/A | 10.6%/75.3%/14.1% (9/64/12) | N/A | 0.3668 |
| Number of TACE sessions at baseline | N/A | 1 (0–2) | 0–9 | 1 (0–2) | 0–8 | 0.5497 |
| Number of TACE sessions during the observation period | N/A | 3 (1–5) | 1–12 | 3 (1–4) | 1–9 | 0.2033 |
| Additional HCC treatment with HAIC/TKIs during the observation period, Yes/No | N/A | 32.8%/67.2% (22/45) | N/A | 32.9%/67.1% (28/57) | N/A | 0.9890 |
| AFP, ng/ml | ≤10.0 | 50.9 (11.4–348.5) | 1.3–22385.0 | 36.2 (6.9–229.1) | 1.3–67036.0 | 0.2632 |
| DCP, mAU/ml | ≤40.0 | 257.0 (44.5–4523.5) | 10.0–745283.0 | 101.0 (33.5–777.5) | 12.0–104513.0 | 0.1692 |
| Child-Pugh class, A/B/C | N/A | 52.2%/47.8% /0% (35/32/0) | N/A | 62.4%/37.7% /0% (53/32/0) | N/A | 0.2099 |
| AST, IU/l | 13–30 | 48(32–68) | 13–177 | 43 (30.5–54) | 18–183 | 0.0804 |
| ALT, IU/l | 10–30 | 35 (23–55) | 7–101 | 29 (22–39.5) | 7–186 | 0.1518 |
| Lactate dehydrogenase, IU/l | 120–240 | 238 (201–277) | 118–498 | 211 (181–251.5) | 129–624 | 0.0215 |
| ALP, IU/l | 115–359 | 381 (291–522) | 144–1170 | 351 (288–500) | 180–1467 | 0.5330 |
| GGT, IU/l | 13–64 | 47 (28.75–96.25) | 17–395 | 44 (25.5–75.5) | 9–551 | 0.3759 |
| Cholinesterase, U/l | 201–421 | 130 (93.5–174.75) | 47–314 | 155 (117–200) | 53–360 | 0.0723 |
| Total protein, g/dl | 6.6–8.1 | 7.21 (6.94–7.59) | 5.65–8.52 | 7.16 (6.66–7.62) | 5.86–8.89 | 0.5160 |
| Albumin, g/dl | 4.1–5.1 | 3.33 (2.97–3.63) | 2.31–4.40 | 3.37 (3.05–3.71) | 2.27–4.39 | 0.4058 |
| Total bilirubin, mg/dl | 0.40–1.20 | 0.99 (0.76–1.27) | 0.33–2.31 | 0.82 (0.64–1.22) | 0.31–2.78 | 0.0764 |
| BUN, mg/dl | 8.6–22.9 | 16.1 (13.2–20.8) | 8.8–36.9 | 16.9 (14–19.75) | 5.9–47.6 | 0.9084 |
| Creatinine, mg/dl | 0.65–1.07 | 0.74 (0.60–0.95) | 0.35–8.50 | 0.73 (0.61–0.91) | 0.43–1.91 | 0.5513 |
| eGFR, ml/min/1.73 m2 | >90.0 | 74.5 (55–92.2) | 5.5–129.5 | 71.7 (55.8–86.8) | 27.3–119.5 | 0.5330 |
| Total cholesterol, mg/dl | 150–199 | 146 (127–172.5) | 81–254 | 136 (125–153) | 79–233 | 0.1781 |
| Creatine kinase, U/l | 59–248 | 100.5 (67.5–169.3) | 34–386 | 87 (55–127.25) | 10–374 | 0.0611 |
| HbA1c, % | 4.3–5.8 | 5.8 (5.2–6.35) | 4.6–8.0 | 5.8 (5.5–6.4) | 4.3–13.4 | 0.4915 |
| Prothrombin activity, % | 80–120 | 74.5 (63–88.75) | 14.6–118 | 79(67.5–89.5) | 14.5–117 | 0.5247 |
| Red blood cell count, ×104/µl | 435–555 | 377 (341–411) | 186–498 | 389 (352–420) | 249–615 | 0.1877 |
| Hemoglobin, g/dl | 13.7–16.8 | 11.7 (10.2–12.8) | 7.0–16.4 | 11.7 (10.45–12.75) | 7.3–15.6 | 0.7807 |
| White blood cell count, /µl | 3,300-8,600 | 3,500 (2,700–4,700) | 1700–9700 | 3,800 (3,150–5,150) | 1,800-21,100 | 0.1808 |
| Platelet count, ×103/mm3 | 15.8–34.8 | 9 (6.9–14.5) | 3.4–24.4 | 10.8 (8.4–13.95) | 3.2–46.6 | 0.1809 |
| BCAA supplementation, yes/no | N/A | 67.2%/32.8% 45/22 | N/A | 61.1%/38.8% 52/33 | N/A | 0.4456 |
| Hospitalization, days | N/A | 15 (13–20) | 8–38 | 15 (11–21) | 7–55 | 0.4862 |
| Evaluation period for CT, days | N/A | 53 (34–84) | 7–309 | 50 (35–80) | 7–312 | 0.8324 |
| Period between TACE and CT, days | N/A | 11 (9–15) | 6–26 | 9 (7–20) | 2–125 | 0.3958 |
| Exercise days during hospitalization, days | N/A | N/A | N/A | 6.5 (5–9) | 2–26 | N/A |
| Total duration of exercise, h | N/A | N/A | N/A | 3.3 (2.7–4.4) | 1-8.7 | N/A |
| Metabolic equivalents | N/A | N/A | N/A | 2.5 (2–3) | 2–4 | N/A |
| Grip strength, kg | N/A | N/A | N/A | 24.1 (19.2–28.9) | 10.8–42.8 | N/A |
| 10-meter walk test, sec | N/A | N/A | N/A | 7.33 (6.10–9.81) | 5.41–13.55 | N/A |
| 6-min walk test, meter | N/A | N/A | N/A | 379.81 (288.85–421.52) | 26.2–574.1 | N/A |
| SMI, cm2/m2 | N/A | 31.5 (22.4–39.1) | 13.8–57.0 | 29.7 (23.7–34.6) | 11.9–51.2 | 0.3632 |
| VFA, cm2/m2 | N/A | 19.23 (10.10–30.96) | 2.13–71.95 | 26.55(15.75–36.41) | 2.13–92.65 | 0.012 |
Data are expressed the as median (IQR), range, or number. N/A, not applicable; SMI, skeletal muscle index; AIH, autoimmune hepatitis; HBV, hepatitis B virus; HCV, hepatitis C virus; NASH, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis; BCLC, Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer; TACE, transcatheter arterial chemoembolization; HAIC, hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy; TKIs, tyrosine kinase inhibitors; AFP, α-fetoprotein; DCP, des-γ-carboxy prothrombin; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; ALT, alanine aminotransferase; ALP, alkaline phosphatase; GGT, γ-glutamyl transpeptidase; BUN, blood urea nitrogen; eGFR, estimated glomerular filtration rate; HbA1c, hemoglobin A1c; BCAA, branched-chain amino acids; CT, computed tomography; SMI, skeletal muscle mass index; VFA, visceral fat area; IQR, interquartile range.