Table 1.
Clinicopathologic features of the patient population
| Characteristic | All patients n=304 (%) |
Corticosteroid exposure | P value* | ||
| Prednisone 0 to <10 mg n=226 (%) | Prednisone >10 mg prior to ICI n=14 (%) | Prednisone >10 mg during ICI n=64 (%) | |||
| Gender | 0.68 | ||||
| Male | 235 (77) | 172 (76) | 11 (79) | 52 (82) | |
| Female | 69 (23) | 54 (24) | 3 (21) | 12 (18) | |
| Cirrhosis | 0.23 | ||||
| Present | 216 (71) | 156 (69) | 9 (64) | 51 (80) | |
| Absent | 87 (29) | 69 (31) | 5 (36) | 13 (20) | |
| Unknown | 1 (0.3) | 1 (0.4) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | |
| Etiology of chronic liver disease | 0.85 | ||||
| Viral | 196 (65) | 144 (64) | 10 (71) | 42 (66) | |
| Non-viral | 106 (34) | 80 (35) | 4 (29) | 22 (34) | |
| Unknown | 2 (0.7) | 2 (0.9) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | |
| Child-Turcotte-Pugh Class | 0.6 | ||||
| A | 225 (74) | 170 (75) | 9 (64) | 46 (72) | |
| B | 79 (26) | 56 (25) | 5 (36) | 18 (28) | |
| Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage | 0.35 | ||||
| A–B | 74 (24) | 51 (23) | 3 (21) | 20 (31) | |
| C | 230 (76) | 175 (77) | 11 (79) | 44 (69) | |
| Maximum diameter of largest lesion (cm) | 0.96 | ||||
| Median (IQR) | 5.5 (5.5) | 5.5 (6) | 5 (-) | 5 (4.5) | |
| n | 202 | 166 | 1 | 35 | |
| Metastatic sites | 0.81 | ||||
| 0–1 | 166 (55) | 136 (60) | 1 (7) | 29 (76) | |
| >2 | 45 (15) | 36 (16) | 0 (0) | 9 (9) | |
| Unknown | 93 (31) | 54 (24) | 13 (93) | 26 (41) | |
| Prior systemic therapy for HCC | 0.66 | ||||
| 0–1 | 277 (81) | 204 (90) | 13 (93) | 60 (94) | |
| >2 | 27 (9) | 21 (10) | 1 (7) | 4 (6) | |
| Immunotherapy treatment | 0.1 | ||||
| Monotherapy | 279 (92) | 204 (82) | 14 (100) | 61 (91) | |
| Combination | 25 (8) | 22 (18) | 0 (0) | 3 (9) | |
| ECOG Performance Status | 0.46 | ||||
| 0–1 | 197 (65) | 162 (72) | 1 (7) | 34 (53) | |
| ≥2 | 13 (4) | 9 (4) | 0 (0) | 4 (6) | |
| Unknown | 94 (31) | 55 (24) | 13 (93) | 26 (41) | |
| Alfa-fetoprotein | 0.42 | ||||
| <400 ng/mL | 178 (59) | 129 (57) | 10 (71) | 39 (61) | |
| >400 ng/mL | 118 (39) | 93 (41) | 4 (29) | 21 (33) | |
| Unknown | 8 (3) | 4 (2) | 0 (0) | 4 (6) | |
| Albumin | 0.25 | ||||
| Median (IQR) | 36 (9) | 36 (8) | 33 (10) | 36 (10) | |
| n | 298 | 220 | 14 | 64 | |
| Bilirubin | 0.64 | ||||
| Median (IQR) | 14 (12) | 14 (12) | 14.5 (12) | 15 (10) | |
| n | 302 | 224 | 14 | 64 | |
| Platelet count | 0.58 | ||||
| Median (IQR) | 160 (119) | 160 (120) | 100 (–) | 162 (92) | |
| n | 210 | 171 | 1 | 38 | |
*Excludes the “Unknown” category in the statistical test.
ECOG, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group; HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma; ICI, immune checkpoint inhibitors.