Successful initial ablation therapy contributes to survival in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

Table 1 Characteristics of patients

Variables	All patients	PEI	RF ablation	P
	(n = 153)	(n = 43)	(n = 110)
Age (yr)
mean ± SD	69 ± 7	69 ± 7	68 ± 7	NS
Sex
Male/Female	93/60	22/21	71/39	NS
Etiology
HCV	134	38	96
HBV	8	1	7	NS
Alcohol	7	2	5
Others	4	2	2
Child-Pugh class
A/B	133/20	37/6	96/14	NS
Tumor size (cm)
≤ 3/> 3	120/33	33/10	87/23	NS
Tumor number
Single/Multiple	102/51	19/24	83/27	< 0.05
Serum alpha-fetoprotein level (ng/mL)
mean ± SD	781 ± 8180	2501 ± 15289	109 ± 282	NS
Serum PIVKA-II level (ng/mL)
mean ± SD	347 ± 1258	565 ± 1467	262 ± 1169	NS
Serum albumin level (g/dL)
mean ± SD	3.8 ± 0.5	3.7 ± 0.5	3.8 ± 0.5	NS
Initial treatment response
Successful/Unsuccessful	125/28	35/8	90/20	NS

RF: radiofrequency; PEI: percutaneous ethanol injection; NS: not significant; HCV: hepatitis C virus; HBV: hepatitis B virus; PIVKA-II: protein induced vitamin K absence or antagonist II.

Table 2 Univariate analysis for factors associated with survival

Variables	Patients	P
Pre-treatment factors
Age (yr)
< 70/≥ 70	74/79	0.0923
Sex
Male/Female	93/60	0.7284
Child-Pugh class
A/B	133/20	0.0275
Tumor size (cm)
≤ 3/> 3	120/33	0.0130
Tumor number
Single/Multiple	102/51	0.6298
Serum alpha-fetoprotein level (ng/mL)
< 400/≥ 400	142/11	0.0722
Serum PIVKA-II level (ng/mL)
< 300/≥ 300	133/20	0.0486
Serum albumin level (g/dL)
≤ 3.5/> 3.5	50/103	0.0060
Treatment factors
Type of ablation therapy
RF ablation/PEI	110/43	0.9829
Initial treatment response
Successful/Unsuccessful	125/28	0.0130

RF: radiofrequency; PEI: percutaneous ethanol injection; NS: not significant; PIVKA-II: protein induced vitamin K absence or antagonist II.

Table 3 Multivariate analysis for factors associated with survival

Variables	Risk ratio (95% CI)	P
Tumor size (cm)
> 3	1.0
≤ 3	0.459 (0.179-1.174)	0.104
Serum PIVKA-II level (ng/mL)
≥ 300	1.0
< 300	0.542 (0.191-1.535)	0.249
Serum albumin level (g/dL)
> 3.5	1.0
≤ 3.5	3.216 (1.407-7.353)	0.006
Initial treatment response
Successful	1.0
Unsuccessful	2.474 (1.076-5.692)	0.033

Abbreviations: PIVKA-II, protein induced vitamin K absence or antagonist II.

Table 4 Comparison of clinical background between successful initial treatment group and unsuccessful initial treatment group

	Initial treatment
	Successful	Unsuccessful
	(n = 125)	(n = 28)
Sex
Male/Female	75/50	18/10
Age (yr)
< 70/≥ 70	67/58	12/16
Etiology
HCV/HBV/Alcohol/Others	108/6/7/4	26/2/0/0
Child-Pugh class
A/B	110/15	23/5
Serum albumin level (g/dL)
≤ 3.5/> 3.5	43/82	7/21
Tumor size (cm)
≤ 3/> 3	102/23	18/10a
Tumor number
Single/Multiple	90/35	12/16a
Type of ablation therapy
RF ablation/PEI	90/35	20/8
Serum alpha-fetoprotein level (ng/mL)
< 400/≥ 400	119/6	23/5a
Serum PIVKA-II level (ng/mL)
< 300/≥ 300	113/12	20/8a

RF: radiofrequency; PEI: percutaneous ethanol injection; HCV: hepatitis C virus; HBV: hepatitis B virus; PIVKA-II: protein induced vitamin K absence or antagonist II.

^aP < 0.05 vs the successful initial treatment group.