Table 3.
Subgroup Analysis of Total AEs Incidence
| Items, No. (%) | RFA (Treatment Times, n=79) | cTACE (Treatment Times, n=94) | DEB-TACE (Treatment Times, n=94) | P value* | P value# | P value† | P value& |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AEs in patients with age<60 years | 27/43 (62.8) | 39/47 (83.0) | 48/61 (78.7) | 0.064 | 0.093 | 0.225 | 0.999 |
| AEs in patients with age≥60 years | 23/36 (63.9) | 42/47 (89.4) | 24/33 (72.7) | 0.020 | 0.015 | 0.999 | 0.162 |
| AEs in female patients | 14/16 (87.5) | 20/21 (95.2) | 13/17 (76.5) | 0.230 | 0.999 | 0.999 | 0.456 |
| AEs in male patients | 36/63 (57.1) | 61/73 (83.6) | 59/77 (76.6) | 0.002 | 0.003 | 0.042 | 0.864 |
| AEs in patients without hypertension | 32/52 (61.5) | 66/75 (88.0) | 51/71 (71.8) | 0.002 | <0.001 | 0.678 | 0.042 |
| AEs in patients with hypertension | 18/27 (66.7) | 15/19 (78.9) | 21/23 (91.3) | 0.109 | 0.999 | 0.108 | 0.765 |
| AEs in patients without diabetes mellitus | 44/72 (61.1) | 72/83 (86.7) | 65/85 (76.5) | 0.001 | <0.001 | 0.111 | 0.258 |
| AEs in patients with diabetes mellitus | 6/7 (85.7) | 9/11 (81.8) | 7/9 (77.8) | 0.920 | 0.999 | 0.999 | 0.999 |
| AEs in patients without heart disease | 45/73 (61.6) | 76/88 (86.4) | 66/85 (77.6) | 0.001 | <0.001 | 0.084 | 0.405 |
| AEs in patients with heart disease | 5/6 (83.3) | 5/6 (83.3) | 6/9 (66.7) | 0.675 | 1.000 | 0.999 | 0.999 |
| AEs in patients without bronchial asthma | 49/78 (62.8) | 81/93 (87.1) | 71/92 (77.2) | 0.001 | <0.001 | 0.123 | 0.234 |
| AEs in patients with bronchial asthma | 1/1 (100.0) | 0/1 (0.0) | 1/2 (50.0) | 0.368 | 0.471 | 1.000 | 1.000 |
| AEs in patients with disease duration<4.0 months | 19/23 (82.6) | 38/40 (95.0) | 46/58 (79.3) | 0.093 | 0.321 | 0.999 | 0.087 |
| AEs in patients with disease duration≥4.0 months | 31/56 (55.4) | 43/54 (79.6) | 26/36 (72.2) | 0.020 | 0.021 | 0.312 | 0.999 |
| AEs in patients without surgical history | 36/55 (65.5) | 68/78 (87.2) | 51/70 (72.9) | 0.010 | 0.009 | 0.999 | 0.084 |
| AEs in patients with surgical history | 14/24 (58.3) | 13/16 (81.3) | 21/24 (87.5) | 0.053 | 0.390 | 0.069 | 1.764 |
| AEs in patients without ablation history | 30/40 (75.0) | 70/80 (87.5) | 63/84 (75.0) | 0.094 | 0.249 | 1.000 | 0.123 |
| AEs in patients with ablation history | 20/39 (51.3) | 11/14 (78.6) | 9/10 (90.0) | 0.032 | 0.225 | 0.078 | 0.999 |
| AEs in patients without TACE history | 18/26 (69.2) | 35/43 (81.4) | 49/60 (81.7) | 0.386 | 0.738 | 0.606 | 0.999 |
| AEs in patients with TACE history | 32/53 (60.4) | 46/51 (90.2) | 23/34 (67.6) | 0.002 | <0.001 | 0.999 | 0.027 |
| AEs in patients without radioactive seeds implantation history | 38/58 (65.5) | 66/73 (90.4) | 65/87 (74.7) | 0.002 | <0.001 | 0.696 | 0.030 |
| AEs in patients with radioactive seeds implantation history | 12/21 (57.1) | 15/21 (71.4) | 7/7 (100.0) | 0.100 | 0.999 | 0.105 | 0.333 |
| AEs in patients with tumor size<5.0 cm | 36/60 (60.0) | 44/53 (83.0) | 28/35 (80.0) | 0.013 | 0.021 | 0.135 | 0.999 |
| AEs in patients with tumor size≥5.0 cm | 14/19 (73.7) | 37/41 (90.2) | 44/59 (74.6) | 0.121 | 0.285 | 0.999 | 0.147 |
| AEs in patients with unifocal tumor | 16/30 (53.3) | 30/34 (88.2) | 32/42 (76.2) | 0.006 | 0.006 | 0.129 | 0.534 |
| AEs in patients with multifocal tumor | 34/49 (69.4) | 51/60 (85.0) | 40/52 (76.9) | 0.149 | 0.150 | 0.999 | 0.825 |
| AEs in patients with little blood supply of tumor | 2/8 (25.0) | 1/2 (50.0) | 1/2 (50.0) | 0.687 | 0.999 | 0.999 | 1.000 |
| AEs in patients with moderate blood supply of tumor | 41/60 (68.3) | 62/68 (91.2) | 37/47 (78.7) | 0.005 | 0.003 | 0.690 | 0.174 |
| AEs in patients with large blood supply of tumor | 7/11 (63.6) | 18/24 (75.0) | 34/45 (75.6) | 0.713 | 0.999 | 0.999 | 0.999 |
| AEs in patients with normal TBIL (<19.0 μmol/L) | 32/50 (64.0) | 48/57 (84.2) | 53/69 (76.8) | 0.050 | 0.048 | 0.380 | 0.900 |
| AEs in patients with abnormal TBIL (≥19.0 μmol/L) | 18/29 (62.1) | 33/37 (89.2) | 19/25 (76.0) | 0.034 | 0.027 | 0.816 | 0.498 |
| AEs in patients with normal ALT (<40.0 U/L) | 33/55 (60.0) | 62/72 (86.1) | 37/53 (69.8) | 0.003 | 0.003 | 0.858 | 0.078 |
| AEs in patients with abnormal ALT (≥40.0 U/L) | 17/24 (70.8) | 19/22 (86.4) | 35/41 (85.4) | 0.276 | 0.606 | 0.471 | 0.999 |
| AEs in patients with normal AST (<40.0 U/L) | 29/52 (55.8) | 46/54 (85.2) | 34/45 (75.6) | 0.003 | 0.003 | 0.126 | 0.678 |
| AEs in patients with abnormal AST (≥40.0 U/L) | 21/27 (77.8) | 35/40 (87.5) | 38/49 (77.6) | 0.436 | 0.876 | 0.999 | 0.672 |
| AEs in patients with normal Cr (<50.0 μmol/L) | 15/21 (71.4) | 25/28 (89.3) | 19/24 (79.2) | 0.282 | 0.330 | 0.999 | 0.939 |
| AEs in patients with abnormal Cr (≥50.0 μmol/L) | 35/58 (60.3) | 56/66 (84.8) | 53/70 (75.7) | 0.007 | 0.006 | 0.186 | 0.546 |
| AEs in patients without complete embolism/ablation | 5/8 (62.5) | 4/6 (66.7) | 6/8 (75.0) | 0.862 | 0.999 | 0.999 | 0.999 |
| AEs in patients with complete embolism/ablation | 45/71 (63.4) | 77/88 (87.5) | 66/86 (76.7) | 0.002 | <0.001 | 0.201 | 0.192 |
Notes: *Comparison among three groups. #Comparison between RFA group and cTACE group. †Comparison between RFA group and DEB-TACE group. &Comparison between cTACE group and DEB-TACE group. Comparison was determined by Chi-squared test or Fisher’s exact test corrected by Bonferroni method.
Abbreviations: AEs, adverse events; RFA, radiofrequency ablation; cTACE, conventional transarterial chemoembolization; DEB-TACE, drug-eluting bead transarterial arterial chemoembolization; TACE, transarterial chemoembolization; TBIL, total bilirubin; ALT, alanine transaminase; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; Cr, creatinine.