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

Table 4 Baseline characteristics of the original patient population in the included studies before propensity score matching and/or subgroup analyses, mean ± avg for numerical ones, n (%)

Ref.	Age (years)	Sex	Child-Pugh/BCLC	Tumor size (cm)	MELD
Bai et al[10]	LR: 277 (20.6) > 60 years; RFA: 213 (24.9) > 60 years	LR: M = 1138 (84.6); RFA: M = 694 (81.3)	LR: Child-Pugh A = 1243 (92.4); RFA: Child-Pugh A = 694 (81.3)	LR: 690 (51.3) < 3 cm; RFA: 710 (83.2) < 3 cm
Gory et al[13]	LR: 59.3 ± 10.7; RFA: 65.1 ± 10.0	LR: M = 42 (81); RFA: M = 71 (74)	LR: Child-Pugh A = 46 (88.4); RFA: Child-Pugh A = 75 (78.1)	LR: 3.03 ± 1.08; RFA: 2.3 ± 0.96	LR: 8.4 ± 2.1; RFA: 10.1 ± 3.2
He et al[14]	LR: 47.4 ± 12.4; RFA: 53.9 ± 12.8	LR: M = 257 (83); RFA: M = 110 (88)	LR: Child-Pugh A = 305 (98); RFA: Child-Pugh A = 118 (94)	LR: 3.3 ± 1.0; RFA: 2.6 ± 1.0
Liu et al[18]	LR: 60 ± 13; RFA: 64 ± 12	LR: M = 78 (72); RFA: M = 84 (66)	LR: BCLC 0 = 109 (100); RFA: BCLC 0 = 128 (100)	LR: 109 (100) ≤ 2 cm; RFA: 128 (100) ≤ 2 cm	LR: 7.8 ± 1.3; RFA: 8.4 ± 2.5
Lu et al[20]	LR: 50.1 ± 10.9; RFA: 52.9 ± 11.8	LR: M = 124 (89.9); RFA: M = 172 (88.7)	LR: Child-Pugh A = 138 (100); RFA: Child-Pugh A = 194 (100)	LR: 2.8 ± 1.9; RFA: 1.9 ± 0.9
Qiu et al[22]	LR: 55.5 ± 12.9; RFA: 56.6 ± 11.2	LR: M = 98 (79.6); RFA: M = 118 (86.7)	LR: Child-Pugh = 5.8 ± 1.0; RFA: Child-Pugh = 6.1 ± 1.1	LR: 3.1 ± 1.3; RFA: 2.9 ± 1.1	LR: 9.2 ± 2.7; RFA: 10.7 ± 4.8
Takayasu et al[25]	LR: 139 (79) > 60 years; RFA: 397 (80.9) > 60 years	LR: M = 104 (59.1); RFA: M = 297 (60.5)	LR: Child-Pugh A = 151 (85.8); RFA: Child-Pugh A = 394 (80.2)	LR: 176 (100) ≤ 2 cm; RFA: 491 (100) ≤ 2 cm
Vitale et al[26]	LR: 132 (44.6) > 70 years; RFA: 129 (53.8) > 70 years	LR: M = 227 (76.7); RFA: M = 181 (75.4)	LR: Child-Pugh B = 28 (9.5); RFA: Child-Pugh B = 62 (25.8)	LR: 296 (100) ≤ 3 cm; RFA: 240 (100) ≤ 3 cm	LR: ≥ 8 = 199 (67.2); RFA: ≥ 8 = 170 (70.8)
Xia et al[29]	LR: 50.0 (24.0-58.0); RFA: 52.0 (25.0-59.0)	LR: M = 107 (89.2); RFA: M = 109 (90.8)	LR: Child-Pugh A = 120 (100); RFA: Child-Pugh A = 120 (100)	LR: 81 (67.5) < 3 cm; RFA: 78 (65.0) < 3 cm
Zeng et al[31]	LR: 66-75 years = 262 (65.0); RFA: 66-75 years = 152 (60.8)	LR: M = 281 (69.7); RFA: M = 172 (68.8)		LR: 180 (44.6) = 2-5 cm; RFA: 184 (73.6) = 2-5 cm
Zhong et al[32]	LR: 90 (29.3) ≥ 60 years; RFA: 184 (34.1) ≥ 60 years	LR: M = 245 (79.8); RFA: M = 482 (89.3)	LR: Child-Pugh A = 300 (97.7); RFA: Child-Pugh A = 523 (96.9)	LR: 135 (44.0) < 3 cm; RFA: 425 (78.7) < 3 cm

BCLC: Barcelona clinic liver cancer; LR: Liver resection group; RFA: Radiofrequency ablation group; MELD: Model of end stage liver disease; M: Male.