TABLE 1.
Characteristics of the study patients
| Overall(n = 317) | Elderly patients(n = 143) | Non‐elderly patients(n = 174) | pvalue | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age a (years) | 74.0 (68.0–80.0) | 80.0 (77.0–83.5) | 68.5 (63.0–72.0) | <0.001 |
| Sex (female/male) | 59/258 | 35/108 | 24/150 | 0.020 |
| ECOG‐PS (0/1/2/3/4) | 252/54/9/1/1 | 100/37/5/1/0 | 152/17/4/0/1 | <0.001 |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | 22.9 (20.7–25.3) | 23.2 (20.8–25.0) | 22.7 (20.6–25.7) | 0.698 |
| Etiology of HCC (hepatitis B/C/non‐B, non‐C) | 55/105/157 | 13/52/78 | 42/53/79 | 0.002 |
| Aspartate aminotransferase (IU/L) | 38 (27–56) | 38 (28–52) | 37 (27–58) | 0.486 |
| Alanine aminotransferase (IU/L) | 27 (19–39) | 26 (18–38) | 29 (20–41) | 0.038 |
| Albumin (g/dL) a | 3.7 (3.3–4.1) | 3.7 (3.4–4.0) | 3.7 (3.3–4.1) | 0.826 |
| Total bilirubin (mg/dL) a | 0.7 (0.5–1.0) | 0.7 (0.6–0.9) | 0.8 (0.5–1.0) | 0.303 |
| Platelet count (×103/m3) a | 13.5 (10.6–18.5) | 13.0 (10.7–17.1) | 14.0 (10.3–19.8) | 0.363 |
| Prothrombin time (%) a | 91 (83–100) | 91 (84–100) | 92 (81–100) | 0.421 |
| Estimated glomerular filtration rate (mL/min/1.73 m2) a | 65.7 (54.0–77.3) | 58.8 (48.4–71.5) | 72.0 (59.7–85.0) | <0.001 |
| α‐fetoprotein (ng/mL) a | 39.4 (6.9–591.0) | 56.0 (7.5–598.8) | 23.7 (6.2–573.3) | 0.439 |
| Child‐Pugh class (A/B/C) | 299/17/1 | 139/4/0 | 160/13/1 | 0.081 |
| BCLC stage (A/B/C/D) | 26/129/158/4 | 14/69/58/2 | 12/60/100/2 | 0.012 |
| Atez/Bev therapy type (first line/other) | 179/138 | 80/63 | 99/75 | 0.910 |
| Follow‐up duration a (months) | 5.7 (3.0–8.5) | 5.4 (2.5–7.9) | 5.9 (3.4–9.0) | 0.036 |
| Deaths | 39 | 17 | 22 | 0.865 |
| Causes of death (liver‐related/ non–liver‐related diseases) | 36/3 | 15/2 | 21/1 | 0.570 |
| Propensity score | 0.449 (0.319–0.558) | 0.509 (0.389–0.618) | 0.407 (0.304–0.489) | <0.001 |
| IPW score | 0.898 (0.771–1.117) | 0.886 (0.729–1.160) | 0.926 (0.788–1.160) | 0.345 |
a
Data are expressed as medians (interquartile range).
Abbreviations: ECOG‐PS, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status; HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma; BCLC, Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer; IPW, inverse probability weighting.