Table 1.
Host and tumor characteristics of the pooled cohort
| Variable | Pooled cohort | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | Without PVTT | With PVTT | Standardized difference | P-value | |
| (n = 1709) | (n = 1503) | (n = 206) | |||
| Age (years) | 57.0 ± 9.3 | 57.2 ± 9.2 | 55.5 ± 9.5 | 0.182 | 0.013 |
| Male | 1392 (81.5) | 1211 (80.6) | 181 (87.9) | 0.201 | 0.012 |
| Hypertension | 451 (26.4) | 407 (27.1) | 44 (21.4) | 0.134 | 0.081 |
| Etiology of liver disease | 0.189 | 0.072 | |||
| HBV infection | 1437 (84.1) | 1254 (83.4) | 183 (88.8) | ||
| HCV infection | 131 (7.7) | 123 (8.2) | 8 (3.9) | ||
| Others | 141 (8.2) | 126 (8.4) | 15 (7.3) | ||
| Child-Pugh class | |||||
| A | 1564 (91.5) | 1380 (91.8) | 184 (89.3) | 0.085 | 0.228 |
| B | 145 (8.5) | 123 (8.2) | 22 (10.7) | ||
| PT (INR) | 1.10 ± 0.12 | 1.09 ± 0.12 | 1.10 ± 0.10 | 0.033 | 0.115 |
| Albumin (g/dl) | 3.8 ± 0.5 | 3.8 ± 0.5 | 3.7 ± 0.5 | 0.192 | 0.010 |
| Bilirubin (mg/dl) | 1.0 ± 0.9 | 1.0 ± 0.8 | 1.1 ± 1.6 | 0.036 | |
| Creatinine (mg/dl) | 0.9 ± 0.6 | 0.9 ± 0.5 | 0.9 ± 1.0 | 0.072 | 0.678 |
| Platelet (× 103/uL) | 133.1 ± 57.2 | 132.3 ± 56.2 | 139.4 ± 63.6 | 0.120 | 0.265 |
| AST (IU/L) | 51.4 ± 39.6 | 50.6 ± 38.3 | 57.0 ± 47.9 | 0.147 | 0.204 |
| ALT (IU/L) | 42.5 ± 34.6 | 42.3 ± 33.7 | 43.7 ± 40.2 | 0.037 | 0.755 |
| Ascites | 49 (2.9) | 31 (2.1) | 18 (8.7) | 0.299 | < 0.001 |
| MELD score | 8.2 ± 2.3 | 8.2 ± 2.3 | 8.4 ± 2.5 | 0.086 | 0.251 |
| Liver cirrhosis | 1.709 (100) | 1.503 (100) | 206 (100) | 0.000 | 0.999 |
| Number of tumors | 0.221 | 0.002 | |||
| Single | 1115 (65.3) | 1000 (66.5) | 115 (55.8) | ||
| Multiple | 594 (34.7) | 503 (33.5) | 91 (44.2) | ||
| Infiltrative-type tumor | 99 (5.8) | 23 (1.5) | 76 (36.9) | 1.004 | < 0.001 |
| Tumor size (cm) | 3.9 ± 2.8 | 3.5 ± 2.4 | 7.2 ± 3.5 | 1.218 | < 0.001 |
| Serum AFP (ng/mL) | 2630.6 ± 17,308.0 | 1185.2 ± 7501.9 | 13,176.8 ± 44,232.0 | 0.378 | < 0.001 |
| Extrahepatic metastasis | 85 (5.0) | 42 (2.8) | 43 (20.9) | 0.583 | < 0.001 |
| Primary anti-HCC treatment | |||||
| TACE | 717 (42.0) | 577 (38.4) | 140 (68.0) | 0.620 | < 0.001 |
| Radiotherapy* | 86 (5.0) | 32 (2.1) | 54 (26.2) | 0.736 | < 0.001 |
| Sorafenib¥ | 41 (2.4) | 29 (1.9) | 12 (5.8) | 0.203 | 0.002 |
Values are expressed as mean ± standard deviation, or frequency (percentage)
PVTT portal vein tumor thrombosis, HBV hepatitis B infection, HCV hepatitis C virus, PT prothrombin time, INR international normalized ratio, AST aspartate aminotransferase, ALT alanine aminotransferase, MELD model for end-stage liver disease, AFP alpha-fetoprotein, HCC hepatocellular carcinoma, and TACE transarterial chemoembolization
*Of the 86 patients receiving radiotherapy, 77 were primarily treated with a TACE-combined regimen: 50 in the PVTT group and 27 in the non-PVTT group
¥Of the 29 patients receiving sorafenib in the non-PVTT group, 19 were primarily treated with a TACE-combined regimen; while 12 patients with PVTT group only treated with sorafenib regimen