Table 1.
Patient and tumor characteristics of the entire cohort, stratified by presence of cancer cachexia at time of HCC diagnosis (n=604)
| Variable | Cachexia (n=143) | Pre-cachexia (n=201) | Stable weight/weight gain (n=260) | p-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, mean (SD) | 60.8 (9.9) | 62.0 (8.9) | 60.3 (8.6) | 0.13 |
|
| ||||
| Male sex, n (%) | 102 (71.3) | 156 (77.6) | 178 (68.4) | 0.09 |
|
| ||||
| Race/ethnicity, n (%) | 0.62 | |||
| White | 44 (30.8) | 68 (33.8) | 82 (31.5) | |
| Black | 49 (34.3) | 66 (32.8) | 91 (35.0) | |
| Hispanic | 44 (30.8) | 59 (29.4) | 72 (27.7) | |
| Asian | 3 (2.1) | 8 (4.0) | 9 (3.5) | |
| Other | 3 (2.1) | 0 (0.0) | 6 (2.3) | |
|
| ||||
| Body Mass Index (BMI), median (IQR) | 25.4 (21.9 – 29.5) | 28.3 (24.5 – 32.4) | 28.5 (25.4 – 32.9) | <0.001 |
|
| ||||
| BMI category | <0.001 | |||
| < 25 kg/m2 | 66 (46.2) | 59 (29.5) | 49 (18.9) | |
| 25 – 30 kg/m2 | 48 (33.6) | 71 (35.5) | 107 (41.2) | |
| > 30 kg/m2 | 29 (20.3) | 70 (35.0) | 104 (40.0) | |
|
| ||||
| Hospital site, n (%) | 0.54 | |||
| Parkland | 101 (71.1) | 140 (69.7) | 193 (74.2) | |
| UT Southwestern | 41 (28.9) | 61 (30.4) | 67 (25.8) | |
|
| ||||
| Insurance status, n (%) | 0.56 | |||
| Medicare | 24 (16.9) | 36 (18.1) | 58 (22.4) | |
| Medicaid | 56 (39.4) | 73 (36.7) | 102 (39.9) | |
| Other | 38 (26.8) | 44 (22.1) | 59 (22.8) | |
| Private | 15 (10.6) | 30 (15.1) | 26 (10.0) | |
| Uninsured | 9 (6.3) | 16 (8.0) | 15 (5.4) | |
|
| ||||
| Liver Disease etiology, n (%) | 0.07 | |||
| HCV | 84 (58.7) | 131 (65.2) | 164 (63.1) | |
| NAFLD | 19 (13.3) | 35 (17.4) | 31 (11.9) | |
| Alcohol | 23 (16.1) | 20 (9.6) | 44 (16.9) | |
| HBV | 8 (5.6) | 11 (5.5) | 16 (6.2) | |
| Other/unknown | 9 (6.3) | 3 (1.5) | 4 (1.5) | |
|
| ||||
| Cirrhosis, n (%) | 136 (95.1) | 179 (89.5) | 244 (93.9) | 0.16 |
|
| ||||
| Child Pugh, n (%) | <0.001 | |||
| A | 59 (41.8) | 133 (66.8) | 145 (55.8) | |
| B | 65 (46.1) | 53 (26.6) | 96 (36.9) | |
| C | 17 (12.1) | 13 (6.5) | 19 (7.3) | |
|
| ||||
| ECOG performance status, n (%) | 0.004 | |||
| 0 | 83 (60.1) | 132 (67.4) | 172 (67.2) | |
| 1 | 28 (20.3) | 53 (27.0) | 58 (22.7) | |
| 2 | 21 (15.2) | 10 (5.1) | 23 (9.0) | |
| 3 or 4 | 6 (4.4) | 1 (0.5) | 3 (1.2) | |
|
| ||||
| Ascites, n (%) | <0.001 | |||
| None | 61 (42.7) | 140 (69.7) | 164 (63.1) | |
| Mild/controlled | 71 (49.7) | 51 (25.4) | 82 (31.5) | |
| Severe/uncontrolled | 11 (7.7) | 10 (5.0) | 14 (5.4) | |
|
| ||||
| Hepatic encephalopathy, n (%) | 0.02 | |||
| None | 100 (69.9) | 172 (85.6) | 206 (79.2) | |
| Mild/controlled | 39 (27.3) | 28 (13.9) | 52 (20.0) | |
| Severe/uncontrolled | 3 (2.1) | 1 (0.5) | 2 (0.8) | |
|
| ||||
| Platelet count (109/L), median (IQR) | 130 (77 – 184) | 125 (82 – 191) | 104 (68– 156) | |
|
| ||||
| AFP (ng/mL), median (IQR) | 38 (5 – 699) | 22 (6 – 166) | 16 (5 – 188) | |
|
| ||||
| AFP (ng/mL), n (%) | 0.02 | |||
| <20 | 65 (45.5) | 93 (46.2) | 137 (52.7) | |
| 20–200 | 30 (21.0) | 61 (30.4) | 73 (28.1) | |
| >200 | 48 (33.6) | 47 (23.4) | 50 (19.2) | |
|
| ||||
| Number of tumors at diagnosis, n (%) | 0.53 | |||
| 1 | 89 (64.0) | 117 (58.2) | 168 (65.1) | |
| 2 | 24 (17.3) | 39 (19.4) | 42 (16.3) | |
| 3 or more | 9 (6.5) | 24 (11.9) | 25 (9.7) | |
| Infiltrative and/or innumerable | 17 (12.2) | 21 (10.5) | 23 (8.9) | |
|
| ||||
| Largest tumor diameter (cm) | <0.001 | |||
| <2 cm | 20 (14.9) | 37 (19.0) | 58 (23.1) | |
| 2–5 cm | 62 (46.3) | 109 (55.9) | 148 (59.0) | |
| >5 cm | 52 (38.8) | 49 (25.1) | 45 (17.9) | |
|
| ||||
| Infiltrative-type tumor, n (%) | 22 (16.4) | 27 (13.7) | 24 (9.5) | 0.12 |
|
| ||||
| Extrahepatic metastases, n (%) | 10 (7.9) | 6 (3.0) | 8 (3.1) | 0.11 |
|
| ||||
| BCLC stage at diagnosis | 0.007 | |||
| 0/A | 67 (47.2) | 121 (60.2) | 165 (63.7) | |
| B | 23 (16.2) | 34 (16.9) | 41 (15.8) | |
| C | 35 (24.6) | 35 (17.4) | 31 (12.0) | |
| D | 17 (12.0) | 11 (5.5) | 22 (8.49) | |
|
| ||||
| Received any HCC treatment (%) | 91 (63.6) | 171 (85.1) | 221 (85.0) | |
|
| ||||
| Most definitive HCC treatment | <0.001 | |||
| Resection | 15 (10.6) | 48 (23.9) | 42 (16.3) | |
| Ablation | 17 (12.1) | 32 (15.9) | 58 (22.5) | |
| OLT | 14 (9.9) | 17 (8.5) | 30 (11.6) | |
| TACE/TARE/SBRT | 33 (23.4) | 53 (26.4) | 79 (30.6) | |
| Systemic therapy | 12 (8.5) | 21 (10.5) | 12 (4.6) | |
| None/BSC | 50 (35.5) | 30 (14.9) | 37 (14.3) | |
*
<5% missing data for all variables unless otherwise specified
AFP – alpha-fetoprotein, BCLC - Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer; HBV – hepatitis B virus; HCC - hepatocellular carcinoma; HCV – hepatitis C virus; IQR – Interquartile range; NAFLD – nonalcoholic fatty liver disease; SD – standard deviation