Hepatitis B core-related antigen as a predictive biomarker for recurrence in primary hepatocellular carcinoma: A meta-analysis

Table 1 Characteristics of studies included in the meta-analysis

Ref.	Country	Study type	Cut-off value	Method of measurement	Average age (years)	No. of patients (female/male)	Follow-up time (years)
Tseng et al[26], 2022	China	Cohort	HBcrAg > 4.0 LogU/mL	NA	42.4 ± 10.1	990 (351/639)	Mean = 15.88
Hosaka et al[16], 2022	Japan	Cohort	iTACT-HBcrAg > 2.9 LogU/mL	iTACT	51.0 ± 9.9	180	Median = 11.0
Hsieh et al[18], 2023	China	Case-control	HBcrAg ≥ 3.0 LogU/mL	CLEIA	55.0 (49.0-60.0)	649 (245/404)	1991-2014
Kaneko et al[19], 2021	Japan	Cohort	HBcrAg > 4.1 LogU/mL	CLEIA	54.0 (20.0-85.0)	139	Median = 5.3
Suzuki et al[23], 2021	Japan	Case-control	iTACT-HBcrAg > 2.7 LogU/mL	iTACT	80.3 (44.0-70.0)	17 (5/12)	Not available
Liang et al[22], 2020	China	Cohort	HBeAg-positive cohort: HBcrAg > 4.9 LogU/mL	CLEIA	53.5 ± 11.8	1400 (387/1013)	Mean = 3.75
To et al[25], 2019	China	Cohort	HBcrAg > 5.12 LogU/mL	CLEIA	40.0 (34.0-45.0)	207 (89/118)	Median = 13.1
Tseng et al[27], 2019	China	Cohort	HBcrAg ≥ 4.0 LogU/mL	CLEIA	41	1211 (1050/161)	Mean = 15.95
Suzuki et al[24], 2019	Japan	Cross-sectional	HBcrAg ≥ 3.0 LogU/mL	CLEIA	54.8	449 (296/153)	Not available
Hosaka et al[17], 2019	Japan	Cohort	HBeAg-negative cohort: HBcrAg > 4.30 LogU/mL	CLEIA	44.0 (34.0-57.0)	1268 (339/929)	Median = 8.9
Ando et al[12], 2018	Japan	Cohort	HBcrAg > 3.4 LogU/mL	CLEIA	51.0 (20.0-79.0)	133 (54/79)	Median = 4.8
Chen et al[13], 2018	China	Cohort	HBcrAg > 5.2 LogU/mL	CLEIA	52.5 (30.0-87.0)	56	Median = 5.0
Cheung et al[14], 2017	China	Case-control	HBcrAg ≥ 3.89 LogU/mL	CLEIA	HCC: 61.3 (54.8-66.8)	228 (39/189)	Not available
Tada et al[28], 2016	Japan	Cohort	HBcrAg > 2.9 LogU/mL	CLEIA	49.0 (35.0-59.5)	1031 (473/558)	Median = 10
Honda et al[15], 2016	Japan	Cohort	HBcrAg > 3.0 LogU/mL	CLEIA	52.0 (30.0-79.0)	109 (33/76)	Mean = 6.5
Kumada et al[20], 2013	Japan	Cohort	HBcrAg > 2.9 LogU/mL	CLEIA	52.0 (21.0-77.0)	234 (89/145)	Median = 13.0
Kusakabe et al[21], 2011	Japan	Cohort	Not mentioned	CLEIA	55.2 ± 8.5	479 (259/220)	Mean = 12.7

HBcrAg: Hepatitis B core-related antigen; HBeAg: Hepatitis B e antigen; CLEIA: Chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay; iTACT: Immunoassay for hepatitis B core-related antigen using a new technology.