Comparative analysis of curative efficacy and prognostic factors across treatment modalities for early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (BCLC 0/A)

Table 1 General clinical characteristics of patients with Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage 0/A hepatocellular carcinoma

Variables		LR	RFA	Combined	χ2	P value
Age (year)	≤ 60	24	27	22	1.498	0.473
	> 60	6	13	10
Gender	Male	21	35	21	5.29	0.071
	Female	9	5	11
LC	No	5	12	9	1.775	0.412
	Yes	25	28	23
HBV infection	No	6	6	11	3.979	0.137
	Yes	24	34	21
AFP (μg/L)	≤ 400	25	35	26	0.556	0.757
	> 400	5	5	6
PS score	0	14	40	15	31.484	0.96
	1	13	0	14
	2	3	0	3
Child-Pugh classification	A	27	35	28	0.128	0.938
	B	3	5	4
Number of tumor	1	28	36	30	0.427	0.808
	2	2	4	2
Diameter of tumor (cm)	≤ 2	12	20	14	0.727	0.695
	2-3	18	20	18
BCLC	0	12	18	13	0.221	0.896
	A	18	22	19
TBIL (μmol/L)	≤ 22	30	38	32	3.162	0.206
	> 22	0	2	0
ALB (g/L)	≥ 35	30	39	30	2.164	0.339
	< 35	0	1	2
ALT (U/L)	≤ 50	20	10	28	3.068	0.080
	> 50	10	30	4
AST (U/L)	≤ 59	29	39	32	0.994	0.608
	> 59	1	1	0
GGT (U/L)	≤ 73	28	40	32	4.896	0.086
	> 73	2	0	0
ICG-R15 (%)	≤ 10	29	40	31	1.32	0.517
	> 10	1	0	1
PLT (× 109/L)	≥ 100	28	40	31	2.674	0.263
	< 100	2	0	1

LR: Liver resection; RFA: Radiofrequency ablation; BCLC: Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer; LC: Liver cirrhosis; HBV: Hepatitis B virus; AFP: Alpha fetoprotein; PS: Performance status; TBIL: Total bilirubin; ALB: Albumin; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; GGT: Gamma-glutamyl transferase; ICG-R15: Indocyanine green retention rate at 15 minutes; PLT: Platelet count.

Table 2 Analysis of factors associated with overall survival in patients with Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage 0/A hepatocellular carcinoma, n (%)

Variables		n (n = 102)	5-year OS	χ2	P value
Age (year)	60	73	42 (57.53)	1.000	0.819
	> 60	29	42 (57.54)
Gender	Male	77	42 (57.55)	1.000	0.109
	Female	25	42 (57.56)
LC	No	26	42 (57.57)	1.000	0.871
	Yes	76	42 (57.58)
HBV infection	No	23	42 (57.59)	1.000	0.910
	Yes	79	42 (57.60)
AFP (μg/L)	≤ 400	86	42 (57.61)	1.000	0.442
	> 400	16	42 (57.62)
PS score	0	69	42 (57.63)	2.000	0.290
	1	27	42 (57.64)
	2	6	42 (57.65)
Child-Pugh classification	A	90	42 (57.66)	1.000	0.425
	B	12	42 (57.67)
Number of tumor	1	94	42 (57.68)	1.000	0.871
	2	8	42 (57.69)
Diameter of tumor (cm)	≤ 2	46	42 (57.70)	1.000	0.444
	2-3	56	42 (57.71)
BCLC	0	43	42 (57.72)	1.000	0.444
	A	59	42 (57.73)
TBIL (μmol/L)	≤ 22	100	42 (57.74)	0.058	0.809
	> 22	2	42 (57.75)
ALB (g/L)	≥ 35	99	42 (57.76)	0.304	0.157
	< 35	3	42 (57.77)
ALT (U/L)	≤ 50	58	42 (57.78)	1.000	0.774
	> 50	44	42 (57.79)
AST (U/L)	≤ 59	100	42 (57.80)	1.000	0.963
	> 59	2	42 (57.81)
GGT (U/L)	≤ 73	100	42 (57.82)	1.000	0.769
	> 73	2	42 (57.83)
ICG-R15 (%)	≤ 10	100	42 (57.84)	1.000	0.963
	> 10	2	42 (57.85)
PLT (× 109/L)	≥ 100	99	42 (57.86)	1.000	0.267
	< 100	3	42 (57.87)
Treatment modalities	RFA	40	42 (57.88)	7.024	0.03
	LR	30	42 (57.89)
	Combined	32	42 (57.90)

OS: Overall survival; BCLC: Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer; LC: Liver cirrhosis; HBV: Hepatitis B virus; AFP: Alpha fetoprotein; PS: Performance status; TBIL: Total bilirubin; ALB: Albumin; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; GGT: Gamma-glutamyl transferase; ICG-R15: Indocyanine green retention rate at 15 minutes; PLT: Platelet count.

Table 3 Five-year median time of overall survival and progression-free survival in Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer Stage 0/A hepatocellular carcinoma with different treatment modalities, median (interquartile range) or mean ± SD

Prognosis	RFA (n = 40)	LR (n = 30)	Combined (n = 32)	H/F	P value
OS (day)	1373.5 (1191.0, 1559.8)	1782.5 (1499.2, 2132.5)	1455.0 (1238, 2194.8)	10.96	0.004
PFS (day)	1164.5 ± 422.1	1704.4 ± 569.8	1573.9 ± 581.7	10.49	< 0.001

LR: Liver resection; RFA: Radiofrequency ablation; OS: Overall survival; PFS: Progression-free survival; H: H-statistic; F: F-statistic.