Impact of sarcopenia on tumor response and survival outcomes in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma treated by trans-arterial (chemo)-embolization

Table 2 Univariate and multivariate Cox analyses of baseline variables associated with progression-free survival

Variable	Univariate analysis			Multivariate analysis
	HR	95%CI	P value	HR	95%CI	P value
Sarcopenia (yes vs no, imaging)	1.58	1.17-2.15	0.003	1.62	1.15-2.28	0.006
Skeletal muscle index (imaging)1	0.91	0.98-1.01	0.306
Psoas muscle index (imaging)1	0.97	0.92-1.02	0.18
Paraombilical vein (imaging)	1.21	0.88-1.65	0.24
Esophageal varices (imaging)	0.94	0.68-1.30	0.72
Ascites (imaging)	1.38	0.97-1.97	0.07
Liver/spleen ratio (imaging)1	1.02	0.98-1.07	0.21
Liver volume (imaging)1	1.00	1.00-1.00	0.062
Spleen volume (imaging)1	0.99	0.99-1.00	0.54
Splenomegaly (imaging)	1.18	0.87-1.60	0.28
BCLC stage	1.24	0.98-1.58	0.068
Multiple nodules	1.03	0.73-1.45	0.88
Portal vein thrombosis	1.58	1.05-2.39	0.03	1.77	1.11-2.83	0.02
Size of the largest nodule1	1.01	1.00-1.01	0.0003	1.008	1.002-1.013	0.006
Esophageal varices at endoscopy	0.98	0.72-1.33	0.88
Serum AFP1	1.00	1.00-1.00	0.0007	1.0001	1.00001-1.00002	0.07
Platelets1	1.00	1.00-1.01	0.002	1.002	1.0001-1.005	0.04
Child Pugh B7	1.02	0.67-1.56	0.93
Creatinin1	1.00	0.99-1.01	0.097
Prothrombin time1	1.00	0.99-1.01	0.68
Total bilirubin1	0.99	0.99-1.01	0.99
Albumin1	0.99	0.97-1.03	0.84
Clinical ascites	1.00	0.63-1.59	0.99
Cirrhosis	0.87	0.53-1.45	0.60
NASH	1.21	0.60-1.14	0.24
HCV	0.85	0.61-1.18	0.32
HBV	0.73	0.41-1.28	0.27
Alcohol intake	1.013	0.75-1.37	0.93
Body mass index1	0.98	0.95-1.01	0.21
Gender (Male)	1.37	0.86-2.19	0.19
Age (years old)1	1.00	0.99-1.02	0.68

¹Parameters expressed as continuous variables.

Sarcopenia was analyzed as a categoric factor (yes vs no). AFP: Alpha-fetoprotein; BCLC: Barcelona clinic liver cancer; HCV: Hepatitis C virus; HBV: Hepatitis B virus; NASH: Non alcoholic steatohepatitis.