Table 1.
Comparison of baseline characteristics between diabetic patients with or without metformin therapy before TACE for single nodular HCC.
| Variables | Before PS matching | After PS matching | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Control (n = 73) | Metformin (n = 91) | p value/SMD | Control (n = 47) | Metformin (n = 47) | p value/SMD | |
| Age, years | 67 (16) | 71 (18) |
0.073 − 0.288 |
67 (16) | 71 (18) |
0.615 − 0.104 |
| Male gender | 57 (78) | 71 (78) |
0.993 0.001 |
38 (81) | 37 (79) |
0.797 0.053 |
| Heavy alcohol consumption | 19 (26) | 29 (32) |
0.414 0.129 |
15 (31) | 16 (33) |
0.827 0.045 |
| Comorbidity | ||||||
| Hypertension | 27 (37) | 27 (30) |
0.322 0.156 |
18 (38) | 12 (25) |
0.186 0.272 |
| Cardiopulmonary disease** | 9 (12) | 16 (18) |
0.352 0.148 |
7 (15) | 7 (15) |
1.000 0.000 |
| CKD | 12 (16) | 16 (18) |
0.847 0.030 |
8 (17) | 6 (13) |
0.563 0.118 |
| Viral hepatitis | 44 (60) | 26 (29) |
< 0.001 0.673 |
20 (44) | 22 (49) |
0.673 0.089 |
| Liver cirrhosis | 61 (84) | 77 (85) |
0.854 0.029 |
39 (81) | 40 (83) |
0.789 0.055 |
| Child–Pugh class (A/B) | 55/18 | 69/22 |
0.943 0.011 |
38/10 | 33/15 |
0.245 0.239 |
|
Child–Pugh score 5/6/7/8/9 |
38/17/8/5/5 | 52/17/11/8/3 |
0.756 0.215 |
28/10/6/2/2 | 26/7/6/6/3 |
0.591 0.347 |
| Other antidiabetic medications and statins | ||||||
| Sulfonylurea | 19 (26) | 32 (35) |
0.209 0.199 |
15 (31) | 15 (31) |
1.000 0.000 |
| Alpha glucosidase | 15 (21) | 13 (14) |
0.290 0.166 |
8 (17) | 8 (17) |
1.000 0.000 |
| Thiazolidinedione | 6 (8) | 8 (9) |
0.896 0.021 |
3 (6) | 4 (9) |
0.694 0.081 |
| DPP-4 inhibitor | 5 (7) | 25 (27) |
0.001 0.569 |
27 (57) | 27 (57) |
1.000 0.000 |
| SGLT2i | 0 (0) | 6 (7) |
0.025 0.272 |
0 (0) | 0 (0) |
1.000 0.000 |
| Insulin | 64 (88) | 76(83) |
0.454 0.119 |
41 (87) | 41 (87) |
1.000 0.000 |
| Statins | 12 (16) | 24 (26) |
0.127 0.244 |
19 (40) | 19 (40) |
1.000 0.000 |
| Laboratory data | ||||||
| HbA1C, % | 6.8 (1.7) | 7.0 (2.1) |
0.557 − 0.041 |
6.6 (1.4) | 6.9 (2.0) |
0.852 − 0.060 |
| Creatinine (mg/dL) | 0.96 (0.37) | 0.91 (0.37) |
0.351 0.276 |
1.00 (0.10) | 0.93 (0.10) |
0.329 0.330 |
| eGFR | 73 (33) | 79 (33) |
0.176 − 0.201 |
72 (40) | 76 (29) |
0.351 − 0.139 |
| Platelet, × 103/ul | 119 (94) | 135 (100) |
0.010 − 0.239 |
130 (108) | 135 (118) |
0.516 − 0.108 |
| Prothrombin time, INR | 1.13 (0.18) | 1.08 (0.15) |
0.018 0.328/ |
1.11 (0.16) | 1.12 (0.21) |
0.553 0.078 |
| Albumin, g/dL | 3.6 (0.7) | 3.9 (0.7) |
0.193 − 0.194 |
3.7 (0.7) | 3.6 (0.9) |
0.315 0.184 |
| Total bilirubin, mg/dL | 0.9 (0.7) | 0.7 (0.5) |
0.009 0.284 |
0.8 (0.5) | 0.8 (0.7) |
0.770 − 0.054 |
| ALBI grade32 1/2/3 | 27/43/3 | 54/34/3 |
0.006 0.461 |
22/23/2 | 22/22/3 |
0.985 0.097 |
| AFP, ng/ml | 7.3 (30.1) | 5.0 (23.7) |
0.241 − 0.178 |
5.9 (22.3) | 7.5 (84.5) |
0.513 − 0.332 |
| Tumor size, cm | 2.7 (3.0) | 3.3 (3.6) |
0.026 − 0.228 |
3.2 (3.3) | 3.3 (4.3) |
0.307 − 0.201 |
| BCLC (0/A) | 25/48 | 17/74 |
0.023 0.358 |
14/33 | 10/37 |
0.344 0.196 |
| DEB-TACE | 5 (7) | 12 (13) |
0.186 0.212 |
5 (11) | 6 (13) |
0.748 0.066 |
| Follow-up duration (months)*** | 22 (44) | 13 (28) |
0.190 0.293 |
46 (52) | 25 (50) |
0.148 0.395 |
AFP alpha-fetoprotein, ALBI albumin-bilirubin, BCLC Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer, CKD chronic kidney disease, DEB drug-eluting bead, DPP-4 dipeptidyl peptidase-4, HbA1C hemoglobin A1c (glycated), INR international normalized ratio, PS propensity score, RFA radiofrequency ablation, SMD standardized mean difference.
Categorical variables are presented as numbers (%), and tested using chi-square test. Continuous variables are presented as median (interquartile range), and p-values were calculated using Mann–Whitney U test.
*Heavy alcohol consumption was defined as chronic consumption of > 40 g of alcohol per day.
**Coronary heart disease, congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
***For patients with complete response after TACE.