Table 1.
Patient and lesion characteristics at the time of study entry.
| Baseline characteristics | All patients (n = 22) | Monotherapy (n = 13) | Combination (n = 9) | p-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patient variables | ||||
| Sex (male/female) | 18/4 | 10/3 | 8/1 | 0.474 |
| Age (years, mean ± S.D.) | 76.1 ± 6.7 | 76.1 ± 7.5 | 76.1 ± 5.7 | 0.991 |
| Etiology (HCV or HBV/NBNC)1 | 10/12 | 7/6 | 3/6 | 0.342 |
| Child–Pugh score (A5/A6) | 16/6 | 9/4 | 7/2 | 0.658 |
| mALBI grade (1/2a/2b) | 11/5/6 | 5/4/4 | 6/1/2 | 0.388 |
| AFP (ng/mL, median, range)2 | 16.5 (2–12400) | 68.1 (2.7–12400) | 12 (2–555) | 0.171 |
| Previous treatment for HCC3 (yes/no) | 14/8 | 9/4 | 5/4 | 0.512 |
| Lesion variables | ||||
| Tumor size4 (mm, mean ± S.D.) | 47.7 ± 31.8 | 41.1 ± 22.9 | 57.2 ± 41.2 | 0.308 |
| Lesion number (median, range) | 4(1–12) | 5(2–7) | 4(1–12) | 0.564 |
| Tumor distribution (left lobe/right lobe/L and R) | 2/4/16 | 1/2/10 | 1/2/6 | 0.868 |
1Only two patients in the monotherapy group were diagnosed with hepatitis B, while none of the patients in the combination group were. Because the number of patients with hepatitis B was so low, we combined the etiology of HBV and HCV for statistic.
2The AFP variable in both groups is not normally distributed.
3Previous treatments included resection, RFA, radiotherapy, TACE and hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy, and any treatment other than systemic therapy.
4For multiple lesions, the tumor size indicates the diameter of the largest lesion, while for a single lesion, the tumor size is the diameter of this single lesion.
HBV, hepatitis B virus; HCV, hepatitis C virus; NBNC, non-HBV non-HCV; mALBI, modified albumin–bilirubin; AFP, alpha-fetoprotein; S.D., standard deviation.