Combined TACE and PEI for palliative treatment of unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma

Table 1 Patients’ characteristics according to treatment

	TACE	TACE-PEI
Patients (n)	25	27
ean age yr (range)	63.6 (48-79)	64 (47-76)
M:F (%)	84:16	74.1:25.9
Cirrhosis/no cirrhosis	22/3	23/4
Etiology of cirrhosis (n/%)
Alcohol	12 (55)	13 (57)
Hepatitis B or C	7 (32)	7 (30)
Hemochromatosis	2 (9)	1 (4)
Unknown	1 (4)	2 (9)
Liver function (n/%)
Child Pugh A	22 (88)	17 (63)
Child Pugh B	3 (12)	10 (37)
Child Pugh C	0	0
Tumor stage (n)
Okuda I	19	17
Okuda II	6	9
Okuda III	0	1
AFP
<100 ng/mL	14	15
≥100 ng/mL	11	12
Portal vein thrombosis (partial or complete)	8	6
Number of tumor lesions
1	9	13
2	6	5
3	5	2
>3	4	5
Diffuse	0	2
Not documented	1	0
Largest diameter >5 cm (US)	17	17

Table 2 Tumor response according to treatment

	TACE	TACE+PEI	P (χ²-test)
Patients (n)	22	25
Complete response	-	-	-
Partial response	-	-	-
Stable disease	4	5	NS
Progressive disease	18	20	NS

Table 3 Hospitalization or out-patient visits according to treatment

	TACE	TACE-PEI	P (Wilcoxon rank test)
IST (d)	33	44.67	0.46
OST (d)	2.72	3.07	0.75
ISO (d)	9.16	5.74	0.91

IST = average inpatient hospitalization because of treatment or complications; OST = average outpatient visits because of treatment or complications; ISO = average inpatient hospitalization for other reasons.

Table 4 Patients’ characteristics and survival according to treatment

	Becker et al	Kamada [26]	Bartolozzi [27]	Tanaka [28]	Koda [29]	Yamamoto [20]
Number of patients
	52	69	53	43	36	100
Cause of cirrhosis
Hepatitis:alcohol	14:25	65	5:48	No data	No data	100
1-yr survival in % of patients
TACE+PEI	62	90	100	100	1001	95
TACE	63	86	92.6	68	751	92.5
2-yr survival in % of patients
TACE+PEI	39	3-yr:65	86.7	85	822	72.5
TACE	18	3-yr:44	69.7	37	502	57.5
P	NS (0.371)	NS	NS	<0.001	<0.05	<0.05

¹Observation period only 10 mo. 2Observation period only 20 mo.