Navigating the evidence for hepatocellular carcinoma treatment: Surgery vs radiofrequency ablation through sentiment and meta-analysis

Table 2 Summary of meta-analysis of adjusted hazard ratios for overall survival comparing liver resection and radiofrequency ablation

Ref.	Study type	Adjusted HR	95%CI lower	95%CI upper	Weight (%)	Treatment favored	Subgroup
Bai et al[10]	Retrospective comparative study	0.68	0.52	0.88	55.52	Resection	High risk MVI and Milan criteria
Bai et al[10]	Retrospective comparative study	0.47	0.26	0.84	11.17	Resection	High risk MVI size < 3 cm
Gory et al[13]	Retrospective comparative study	0.44	0.20	0.98	6.04	Resection	< 5 cm
He et al[14]	Retrospective comparative study	0.47	0.31	0.72	21.66	Resection	Total
Liu et al[18]	Retrospective comparative study	0.47	0.23	0.99	7.01	Resection	Total
Lu et al[20]	Retrospective comparative study	0.54	0.33	0.88	15.97	Resection	Total
Qiu et al[22]	Retrospective comparative study	0.57	0.41	0.83	30.88	Resection	Total
Takayasu et al[25]	Retrospective comparative study	0.82	0.46	1.45	11.66	No difference	Total
Vitale et al[26]	Retrospective comparative study	0.71	0.54	0.93	50.26	Resection	Total
Xia et al[29]	Randomized clinical trial	0.58	0.35	0.95	15.52	Resection	HCC > 3 cm
Xia et al[29]	Randomized clinical trial	0.54	0.34	0.87	17.19	Resection	AFP > 200 ng/mL
Zeng et al[31]	Retrospective comparative study	0.44	0.35	0.56	69.56	Resection	Age > 65 years
Zeng et al[31]	Retrospective comparative study	0.56	0.46	0.69	93.47	Resection	Age < 65 years
Zhong et al[32]	Retrospective comparative study	0.89	0.68	1.18	50.58	No difference	Total
Pooled estimate		0.59	0.54	0.65	100	Resection

HR: Hazard ratio; CI: Confidence interval; HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma; MVI: Microvascular invasion; AFP: Alpha-fetoprotein.