High rate of complete histopathological response in hepatocellular carcinoma patients after combined transarterial chemoembolization and stereotactic body radiation therapy

Table 1 Patients characteristics of all patients and separated into treatment groups, n (%)

Characteristics	Total number of patients (n1 = 27)	TACE only (n = 14)	Combination of TACE and SBRT (n = 9)	SBRT only (n = 4)	P value
Male/female	20 (74)/7 (26)	12 (86)/2 (14)	5 (56)/4 (44)	3 (75)/1 (25)
age < 60/≥ 60 yr	13 (48)/14 (52)	6 (43)/8 (57)	5 (56)/4 (44)	2 (50)/2 (50)
mean age yr ± SD	60 ± 6	59.5 ± 8	61 ± 4	60 ± 2	0.963
Genesis of cirrhosis
1 alcohol	11 (41)	6 (44)	3 (33)	2 (50)
2 viral2	12 (44)	8 (57)	3 (33)	1 (25)
3 others3	4 (15)	0 (0)	3 (33)	1 (25)
Numbers of TACE treatment cycle4
1	12 (44)	5 (36)	7 (78)	NA
2	6 (22)	4 (29)	2 (22)
3 or more	5 (19)	5 (36)	0 (0)
Mean radiation dose in Gy		NA	40.00 ± 3.75	36.80 ± 17.56	0.586

¹n = 27 is the number of patients included into our study.

²Ten patients suffered from hepatitis C virus (HCV), two from hepatitis B virus.

³One patient with combination of alcohol and HCV, three patients with autoimmune hepatitis.

⁴No statistical testing due to different therapeutic approaches. Dichotomous variables are presented in number and percentage, continuous variables in mean ± SD. TACE: Transarterial chemoembolization; SBRT: Stereotactic body radiation therapy.

Table 2 Tumor response by treatment (including tumor characteristics), n (%)

	Total number of patients (n1 = 27)	TACE only (n = 14)	Combination of TACE and SBRT (n = 9)	SBRT only (n = 4)	P value
Complete response	9 (33.3)	0 (0)	8 (88.89)	1 (25)	< 0.001
Number of tumor lesions					0.517
1	20 (74)	9 (64)	8 (89)	3 (75)
2	7 (26)	5 (36)	1 (11)	1 (25)
Mean tumor size2	29.3 ± 9.46	29.50 ± 7.63	27.67 ± 9.54	26.67 ± 14.50	0.389
BCLC4
0	1 (4)	0 (0)	0 (0)	1 (25)
A	26 (96)	14 (100)	9 (100)	3 (75)
Median AFP3,5	8.0, 5.0/58.0	8.05, 5.2/84.2	8.0, 5.0/17.7	9.85, 8.0/11.85

¹n = 27 is the maximum number of patients included into our study.

²mean size of largest tumor in mm ± SD at time of diagnosis.

³Median AFP in ng/ml with 1^st/3^rd quartile at time of diagnosis.

⁴No statistical testing due to small sample size.

⁵No statistical testing due to high variation and SD. Patients characteristics of all patients and separated into treatment groups. Dichotomous variables are presented in number and percentage, continuous variables in mean ± SD. AFP: Alpha-fetoprotein; TACE: Transarterial chemoembolization; SBRT: Stereotactic body radiation therapy; BCLC: Barcelona clinic liver cancer.