Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of the entire hospital cohort before and after IPTW.
| Before IPTW | After IPTW | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variables | Resection (n = 567) |
RFA (n = 194) |
p | Resection | RFA | p | SMD |
| Age, years | 55.2 ± 9.5 | 58.3 ± 8.4 | <0.01 | 56.1 ± 9.3 | 56.5 ± 9.5 | 0.76 | 0.06 |
| Sex, male (%) | 76.7 | 74.7 | 0.65 | 76.3 | 79.2 | 0.59 | 0.07 |
| Smoking (%) | 26.1 | 18.6 | 0.04 | 26.0 | 19.7 | 0.39 | 0.15 |
| Alcohol (%) | 34.4 | 25.8 | 0.03 | 32.9 | 36.7 | 0.62 | 0.08 |
| Diabetes mellitus (%) | 12.2 | 19.1 | 0.02 | 14.3 | 25.7 | 0.07 | 0.12 |
| Hypertension (%) | 27.0 | 26.3 | 0.92 | 27.8 | 32.3 | 0.53 | 0.10 |
| Child–Pugh Score | 0.01 | 0.55 | 0.06 | ||||
| 5 (%) | 90.3 | 82.5 | 88.4 | 90.1 | |||
| 6 (%) | 9.7 | 17.5 | 11.6 | 9.9 | |||
| BCLC stage | <0.01 | 0.20 | 0.15 | ||||
| 0 (%) | 16.0 | 58.8 | 26.9 | 33.9 | |||
| A (%) | 84.0 | 41.2 | 73.1 | 66.1 | |||
| Tumor size, cm | 3.9 ± 2.5 | 1.7 ± 0.6 | <0.01 | 3.4 ± 2.4 | 2.3 ± 0.9 | <0.01 | 0.57 |
| Number of nodules | <0.01 | 0.96 | 0.01 | ||||
| 1 (%) | 95.8 | 89.7 | 93.7 | 93.6 | |||
| 2 or 3 (%) | 4.2 | 10.3 | 6.3 | 6.4 | |||
| Tumor location | 0.03 | 0.36 | 0.13 | ||||
| Peripheral † (%) | 51.0 | 41.8 | 49.0 | 42.6 | |||
| Central †† (%) | 49.0 | 58.2 | 51.0 | 57.4 | |||
| Perivascular tumor * (%) | 28.2 | 21.6 | 0.09 | 26.8 | 18.6 | 0.09 | 0.20 |
| Peribiliary tumor ** (%) | 22.9 | 16.5 | 0.07 | 21.8 | 14.9 | 0.13 | 0.18 |
| Presence of varix (%) | 6.0 | 12.4 | 0.01 | 7.7 | 7.4 | 0.89 | 0.01 |
| Cirrhosis (%) | 63.1 | 85.6 | <0.01 | 68.3 | 70.6 | 0.77 | 0.05 |
| HBsAg-positive (%) | 94.9 | 95.9 | 0.72 | 95.6 | 97.9 | 0.08 | 0.13 |
| HBeAg-positive (%) | 13.8 | 22.7 | 0.01 | 13.6 | 24.0 | 0.07 | 0.27 |
| Antiviral treatment *** (%) | 67.2 | 66.0 | 0.82 | 71.1 | 63.6 | 0.27 | 0.16 |
| Platelets, ×1000/mm3 | 161.3 ± 54.0 | 128.8 ± 47.1 | <0.01 | 156.0 ± 51.6 | 147.9 ± 43.6 | 0.09 | 0.17 |
| Total bilirubin, mg/dL | 0.9 ± 0.4 | 0.8 ± 0.4 | <0.02 | 0.9 ± 0.4 | 0.8 ± 0.4 | 0.07 | 0.13 |
| ALT, U/L | 39.1 ± 24.1 | 39.3 ± 37.5 | 0.95 | 38.3 ± 23.8 | 40.2 ± 30.7 | 0.64 | 0.07 |
| Albumin, g/dL | 4.1 ± 0.3 | 4.0 ± 0.4 | 0.02 | 4.1 ± 0.4 | 4.1 ± 0.4 | 0.46 | 0.11 |
| PT, INR | 1.1 ± 0.1 | 1.1 ± 0.1 | 0.02 | 1.1 ± 0.1 | 1.1 ± 0.1 | 0.46 | 0.08 |
| Serum creatinine, mg/dL | 0.9 ± 0.4 | 0.9 ± 0.5 | 0.58 | 0.9 ± 0.3 | 0.9 ± 0.4 | 0.58 | 0.06 |
| AFP, ng/mL | 19.7 (4.8–317.1) | 7.8 (3.7–40.8) | <0.01 | 17.6 (4.6–250.8) | 9.9 (3.9–33.0) | 0.01 | 0.17 |
| PIVKA, mAU/mL | 56.0 (26.0–371.5) | 24.0 (17.0–35.0) | <0.01 | 41.0 (23.0–196.0) | 27.0 (20.0–58.9) | 0.06 | 0.03 |
| HBV DNA, log10 IU/mL | 2.9 ± 2.4 | 2.0 ± 2.5 | <0.01 | 2.7 ± 2.4 | 2.5 ± 2.6 | 0.56 | 0.09 |
IPTW, inverse probability of treatment weighting; RFA, radiofrequency ablation; BCLC, Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer; ALT, alanine aminotransferase; PT, prothrombin time; AFP, alpha-fetoprotein; PIVKA-II, protein induced by vitamin K absence-II; SMD, standardized mean difference. Note. Categorical variables are expressed as percentage and continuous variables as mean ± standard deviation or median (interquartile range). † Tumor located in liver segment I, II, III, VI, or VII. †† Tumor located in liver segment IV, V, or VIII. * Tumor with its nearest margin ≤ 5 mm from the first- or second-degree branches of a portal or hepatic vein. ** Tumor with its nearest margin ≤ 5 mm from a common hepatic duct or main right or left hepatic duct. *** Antivirals other than entecavir or tenofovir are also included.