Transarterial embolization is an acceptable bridging therapy to hepatocellular carcinoma prior to liver transplantation

Table 1 Patient, tumor, and treatment characteristics, n (%)

Variables	TACE	TAE	P value
Number	65	38
Age (yr), median (IQR)	60 (55, 65)	61.5 (55, 64)	0.962
Male sex	40 (61.5)	23 (60.5)	> 0.99
Diagnosis			0.889
HCV	51 (78.5)	32 (84.2)
HBV	4 (6.2)	2 (5.3)
Alcohol	4 (6.2)	3 (7.9)
NASH	4 (6.2)	1 (2.6)
Other	2 (3.1)	0
Calculated MELD score, median (IQR)	9 (8, 12)	11 (9, 12)	0.122
Preprocedural AFP level, median (IQR)	22.5 (5.6, 68.3)	15.75 (6.8, 94.5)	0.992
Number of lesions			0.652
1	37 (56.9)	22 (57.9)
2	18 (27.7)	11 (28.9)
3	10 (15.4)	4 (10.5)
≥ 4	0	1 (2.6)
Largest tumor diameter, median (IQR)	3 (2.4, 3.8)	3.3 (2.4, 3.9)	0.634
Milan-out	10 (15.4)	8 (21.1)	0.591
Use of PEI	25 (38.5)	17 (44.7)	0.541
Number of procedures, median (IQR)	2 (1, 3)	2 (1, 2.75)	0.914

Milan-out refers to patients beyond the limits of the Milan criteria. TACE: Transarterial chemoembolization; TAE: Transarterial embolization; HCV: Hepatitis-C virus; HBV: Hepatitis-B virus; MELD: Model for End-Stage Liver Disease; AFP: Alpha-feto protein; PEI: Percutaneous ethanol injection; IQR: Interquartile range; NASH: Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.