Table 1.
Comparison of Clinical Characteristics between the Combination Treatment and TACE Continuation Groups
| Characteristic | SOR+TACE (n = 41) |
TACE (n = 29) |
p |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sex | 0.856 | ||
| Male | 32 (78%) | 24 (83%) | |
| Female | 9 (22%) | 5 (17%) | |
| Age, years | 70 (57–81) | 71 (57–76) | 0.358 |
| Number of tumors | 0.664 | ||
| <4 | 16 (39%) | 9 (31%) | |
| ≥4 | 25 (61%) | 20 (69%) | |
| Tumor size, mm | 21 (7–81) | 14 (6–33) | 0.049 |
| Tumor location | 0.426 | ||
| Hemiliver | 12 (29%) | 12 (41%) | |
| Whole liver | 29 (71%) | 17 (59%) | |
| Alpha-fetoprotein, ng/mL | 11 (2–769) | 26 (3–756) | 0.208 |
| PIVKA-II, mAU/mL | 32 (12–5908) | 48 (20–1609) | 0.194 |
| HBsAg | 1 | ||
| Negative | 34 (83%) | 25 (86%) | |
| Positive | 7 (17%) | 4 (14%) | |
| HCVAb | 0.401 | ||
| Negative | 18 (44%) | 9 (31%) | |
| Positive | 23 (56%) | 20 (69%) | |
| Child–Pugh score | 0.545 | ||
| 5 | 24 (59%) | 14 (48%) | |
| 6 | 17 (41%) | 15 (52%) | |
| BCLC stage B | 1 | ||
| No | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | |
| Yes | 41 (100%) | 29 (100%) | |
| Period from first TACE session to refractory, months | 10.9 (0.8–64) | 18.2 (4.7–63) | 0.147 |
| Number of TACE sessions before TACE-refractory | 3 (2–7) | 3 (2–4) | 0.435 |
| Interval between TACE sessions before TACE-refractory, months | 4.1 (0.3–19.3) | 6.8 (2.3–18.2) | 0.043 |
Data are shown as n (%) or median (90% confidence interval). p-values in bold font indicate; PIVKA-II protein induced by vitamin K absence-II, HCC hepatocellular carcinoma, HBsAg hepatitis B surface antigen, HCVAb hepatitis C virus antibody, TACE transarterial chemoembolization