Improved clinical outcome using transarterial chemoembolization combined with radiofrequency ablation for patients in Barcelona clinic liver cancer stage A or B hepatocellular carcinoma regardless of tumor size: results of a single-center retrospective case control study

Table 1 Baseline characteristics of patients in the TACE group and the TACE-RFA group

Characteristic	TACE group (n = 271)	TACE-RFA group (n = 128)	P value
Sex			0.242
Male	216 (79.7%)	109 (85.2%)
Female	55 (20.3%)	19 (14.8%)
Age (years)			0.476
Mean value	56.1 ± 10.8	55.3 ± 10.4
Range	28–79	16–83
Albumin g/dL	37.8 ± 4.9	38.0 ± 5.9	0.692
Total bilirubin u mol/L	20.1 ± 17.5	24.0 ± 54.4 0	0.435
Alpha-fetoprotein level			0.443
< =400 ng/mL	180 (66.4%)	80 (62.5%)
> 400 ng/mL	91 (33.6%)	48 (37.5%)
Child-Pugh score			0.676
A	239 (88.2%)	111 (86.7%)
B	32 (11.8%)	17 (13.3%)
BCLC stage			0.000
A	110 (40.6%)	88 (68.8%)
B	161 (59.4%)	40 (31.2%)
Liver disease type			0.504
Hepatitis B	242 (89.3%)	109 (85.2%)
Hepatitis C	9 (3.3%)	6 (4.7%)
Other	20 (7.4%)	13 (10.2%)
Mean tumor diameter (cm)	6.8 ± 4.3	4.5 ± 3.1	0.000
Tumor diameter range (cm)			0.000
< =3.0	70 (25.8%)	50 (39.1%)
3.1–5.0	50 (18.5%)	40 (31.2%)
5.1–10.0	89 (32.8%)	27 (21.1%)
> 10	62 (22.9%)	11 (8.6%)
Number of tumors			0.102
1	201 (74.2%)	102 (79.7%)
2	49 (18.1%)	23 (18.0%)
3	21 (7.7%)	3 (2.3%)

BCLC Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer, RFA radiofrequency ablation, TACE transarterial chemoembolization

ISSN: 1471-2407