Table 1.
Patient and tumor characteristics in VETC-positive and VETC-negative groups.
| All (n=158) | VETC-positive (n=121) | VETC-negative (n=37) | P | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patient characteristic | ||||
| Male (%) | 128 (81.0) | 96 (79.3) | 32 (86.5) | 0.332 |
| Age at LT (years) | 57.5 (53.0-61.0) | 58.0 (53.0-61.0) | 57.0 (53.0-62.0) | 0.796 |
| Blood group (%) O A B AB |
66 (42.3) 59 (37.8) 25 (16.0) 6 (3.8) |
52 (43.0) 44 (36.4) 19 (15.7) 6 (5.0) |
14 (40.0) 15 (42.9) 6 (17.1) 0 (0) |
0.546 |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | 26.6 (24.4-30.3) | 26.7 (24.5-30.3) | 26.0 (23.9-33.0) | 0.947 |
| Diabetes mellitus (%) | 39 (24.7) | 30 (24.8) | 9 (24.3) | 0.954 |
| Cause of liver disease (%) Hepatitis C* Hepatitis B Alcohol Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease Other |
87 (55.1) 27 (17.1) 16 (10.1) 19 (12.0) 9 (5.7) |
67 (55.4) 20 (16.5) 13 (10.7) 14 (11.6) 7 (5.8) |
20 (54.1) 7 (18.9) 3 (8.1) 5 (13.5) 2 (5.4) |
0.836 |
| Child Pugh score (%) Non-cirrhotic A B C |
37 (23.4) 46 (29.1) 40 (25.3) 35 (22.1) |
25 (20.6) 35 (28.9) 35 (28.9) 26 (21.5) |
12 (32.4) 11 (29.7) 5 (38.8) 9 (24.3) |
0.291 |
| MELD score | 15.3 (9.9-19.5) | 15.2 (10.1-19.6) | 16.1 (9.1-19.8) | 0.749 |
| Pre-LT HCC characteristic | ||||
| Known HCC prior to LT (%) | 133 (84.2) | 104 (86.0) | 29 (78.4) | 0.269 |
| Previous treatments# (%) None Surgical resection TACE Thermal ablation Alcohol ablation Radioembolization Stereotactic radiotherapy |
40 (25.3) 16 (10.1) 110 (69.6) 25 (15.8) 10 (6.3) 2 (1.3) 1 (0.6) |
29 (24.0) 13 (10.7) 85 (70.2) 18 (14.9) 7 (5.8) 1 (0.8) 1 (0.8) |
11 (29.7) 3 (8.1) 25 (67.6) 7 (18.9) 3 (8.1) 1 (2.7) 0 (0) |
0.481 0.642 0.756 0.555 0.612 0.372 0.579 |
| Number of tumors on pre-LT imaging | 1.0 (0-1.0) | 1.0 (0-1.0) | 0 (0-1.0) | 0.017 |
| Size of largest tumor on pre-LT imaging (mm) | 11.0 (0-19.0) | 13.0 (0-21.5) | 0 (0-13.0) | 0.006 |
| Pre-LT AFP (kIU/L) | 6.7 (2.9-21.6) | 6.5 (3.0 -22.2) | 6.9 (2.9-20.0) | 0.643 |
| Outside transplant criteria (%) Milan UCSF Up-to-seven Metroticket 2.0 |
6 (3.8) 5 (3.2) 0 (0) 1 (0.6) |
5 (4.1) 5 (4.1) 0 (0) 1 (0.8) |
1 (2.8) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) |
0.710 0.215 N/A 0.584 |
| Metroticket 2.0 survival estimates (%) 5-year HCC-specific survival 5-year OS |
95.2 (93.1-97.6) 73.3 (63.2-77.0) |
94.7 (92.6-97.6) 81.2 (76.6-86.6) |
96.9 (94.6-97.6) 79.5 (78.8-87.6) |
0.016
0.450 |
| Time spent on waitlist (months) | 5.9 (2.7-12.7) | 6.4 (2.9-13.6) | 4.1 (2.0-7.7) | 0.048 |
| Time from HCC diagnosis to LT (months) | 18.0 (10.0-32.0) | 19.0 (11.0-32.8) | 12.0 (8.0-29.0) | 0.120 |
| Explant HCC characteristic | ||||
| Number of viable tumors on explant | 2.0 (1.0-3.0) | 2.0 (1.0-3.0) | 1.0 (1.0-2.0) | 0.001 |
| Size of largest tumor on explant (mm) | 20.0 (13.0-27.0) | 20.0 (15.0-30.0) | 13.0 (10.0-20.0) | <0.001 |
| Tumor differentiation (%) Well Moderate Poor |
60 (39.0) 91 (59.1) 3 (1.9) |
47 (39.8) 69 (58.5) 2 (1.7) |
13 (36.1) 22 (61.1) 1 (2.8) |
0.862 |
| Macrotrabecular pattern (%) | 44 (27.8) | 39 (32.2) | 5 (13.5) | 0.026 |
| Macrotrabecular massive subtype (%) | 21 (13.3) | 21 (17.4) | 0 (0) | 0.007 |
| Microvascular invasion (%) | 39 (24.7) | 34 (28.1) | 5 (13.5) | 0.059 |
| Perineural invasion (%) | 3 (1.9) | 3 (2.5) | 0 (0) | 0.334 |
| Outside transplant criteria (%) Milan UCSF Up-to-seven |
43 (27.2) 30 (19.0) 21 (13.3) |
40 (33.1) 28 (23.1) 21 (17.4) |
3 (8.1) 2 (5.4) 0 (0) |
0.001
0.008 <0.001 |
| Metroticket 2.0 survival estimates (%) 5-year OS |
73.3 (63.2-77.0) | 71.5 (59.6-76.5) | 76.5 (74.0-77.8) | <0.001 |
The data are shown in number (percentage) and median (interquartile range).
*59/87 (67.8%) were viraemic at time of transplant.
#Percentages exceed 100% because patients had more than one type of treatment.
AFP, alpha-fetoprotein; HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma; LT, liver transplantation; MELD, model for end-stage liver disease; OS, overall survival; TACE, transarterial chemoembolization; UCSF, University of California San Francisco; VETC, vessels that encapsulate tumor clusters.
The bold values are the significant values (where P<0.05).