Efficacy of postoperative adjuvant transcatheter arterial chemoembolization in hepatocellular carcinoma patients with microvascular invasion

Table 1 Baseline clinicopathological characteristics of hepatocellular carcinoma patients, stratified by microvascular invasion status and use of postoperative adjuvant transcatheter arterial chemoembolization n (%)

		No MVI (n = 259)			MVI (n = 260)
Characteristic	Category	No TACE (n = 187)	TACE (n = 72)	P	No TACE (n = 174)	TACE (n = 86)	P
Age (yr)	≤ 60	146 (78.1)	65 (90.3)	0.024	140 (80.5)	73 (84.9)	0.383
	> 60	41 (21.9)	7 (9.7)		34 (19.5)	13 (15.1)
Sex	Female	29 (15.5)	9 (12.5)	0.540	24 (13.8)	11 (12.8)	0.824
	Male	158 (84.5)	63 (87.5)		150 (86.2)	75 (87.2)
HBsAg	Negative	19 (10.2)	6 (8.3)	0.656	18 (10.3)	14 (16.3)	0.171
	Positive	168 (89.8)	66 (91.7)		156 (89.7)	72 (83.7)
Total bilirubin, μmol/L		11 (3-118.3)	11.2 (4.9-33.2)	0.423	11.2 (2.8-30.9)	11.75 (5.1-33.1)	0.330
Prothrombin time (s)		13.10 ± 1.18	13.55 ± 1.21	0.006	13.31 ± 1.38	13.31 ± 1.22	0.978
AFP (ng/mL)	≤ 400	128 (68.4)	44 (61.1)	0.263	89 (51.1)	49 (57.0)	0.376
	> 400	59 (31.6)	28 (38.9)		85 (48.9)	37 (43.0)
HBV-DNA (IU/mL)	≤ 104	95 (50.8)	43 (59.7)	0.197	89 (51.1)	52 (60.5)	0.156
	> 104	92 (49.2)	29 (40.3)		85 (48.9)	34 (39.5)
Pathology data
Size of largest tumor (cm)	≤ 5	121 (64.7)	38 (52.8)	0.077	76 (43.7)	41 (47.7)	0.542
	> 5	66 (35.3)	34 (47.2)		98 (56.3)	45 (52.3)
No. of nodules	Single	155 (82.9)	62 (86.1)	0.528	137 (78.7)	73 (84.9)	0.237
	Multiple	32 (17.1)	10 (13.9)		37 (21.3)	13 (15.1)
Differentiation	Edmondson 1-2	129 (69)	37 (51.4)	0.008	91 (52.3)	49 (57)	0.477
	Edmondson 3-4	58 (31)	35 (48.6)		83 (47.7)	37 (43)
Capsule	Complete	143 (76.5)	52 (72.2)	0.478	105 (60.3)	51 (59.3)	0.872
	Incomplete	44 (23.5)	20 (27.8)		69 (39.7)	35 (40.7)
Cirrhosis	No	31 (16.6)	9 (12.5)	0.416	31 (17.8)	14 (16.3)	0.758
	Yes	156 (83.4)	63 (87.5)		143 (82.2)	72 (83.7)
Surgical data
Type of resection	Minor	118 (63.1)	48 (66.7)	0.592	93 (53.4)	47 (54.7)	0.855
	Major	69 (36.9)	24 (33.3)		81 (46.6)	39 (45.3)
Hepatic inflow occlusion	No	79(42.2)	25 (34.7)	0.268	53 (30.5)	32 (37.2)	0.275
	Yes	108 (57.8)	47 (65.3)		121 (69.5)	54 (62.8)
Child-Pugh classification	A	180 (96.3)	70 (97.2)	1.000	172 (98.9)	84 (97.7)	0.601
	B	7 (3.7)	2 (2.8)		2 (1.1)	2 (2.3)
Hypersplenism	No	169 (90.4)	67 (93.1)	0.497	155 (89.1)	83 (96.5)	0.043
	Yes	18 (9.6)	5 (6.9)		19 (10.9)	3 (3.5)
BCLC	0	18 (9.6)	1 (1.4)	0.002	6 (3.4)	1 (1.2)	0.158
	A	151 (80.7)	54 (75)		121 (69.5)	69 (80.2)
	B	18 (9.6)	17 (23.6)		47 (27)	16 (18.6)
Recurrence	Yes	56 (29.9)	20 (27.8)	0.731	102 (58.6)	34 (39.5)	0.004
	No	131 (70.1)	52 (72.2)		72 (41.4)	52 (60.5)

HBsAg: Hepatitis B surface antigen; AFP: Alpha-fetoprotein; BCLC: Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer; MVI: Microvascular invasion.