Comparison of stereotactic body radiotherapy following transcatheter arterial chemoembolization vs transcatheter arterial chemoembolization alone in hepatocellular carcinoma

Table 1 Patients and disease characteristics of the studied groups

		Group A		Group B		P value
		mean ± SD/n	Range/%	mean ± SD/n	Range/%
Age in years		60.1 ± 8.0	50-85	60.3 ± 7.9	48-75	0.410
Gender	Male	36	75	32	80	0.823
	Female	12	25	8	20
ECOG performance status	1	28	58.30	24	60	0.867
	2	20	41.70	16	40
Hypertension	No	36	75	34	85	0.335
	Yes	12	25	6	15
Diabetes	No	34	70.8	30	75	0.276
	Yes	14	29.2	10	25
Hepatitis C virus	No	8	16.7	12	30	0.392
	Yes	40	83.30	28	70
CHILD status	A	48	100	40	40	0.956
Extent of disease	Bilobar	20	41.7	32	80	0.712
	Unilobular	28	58.3	8	20
Degree of liver cirrhosis	Cirrhosis	44	91.70	15	75	0.128
	Not known	4	8.30	5	25
Baseline number of lesions	1	26	54.20	28	70	0.503
	2	22	45.80	10	25
	3	0	0.00	2	5
Baseline size of lesion (cm)		4.7 ± 0.9	3.0 ± 6.5	5.2 ± 1.1	3.5 ± 7.0

ECOG: Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group; CHILD: Child-Pugh Classification.

Table 2 Post treatment outcomes among studied groups

Indicator	Group A	Group B	P value
CR (%)	54.5	75.0	0.012
PR (%)	36.4	15.0	0.008
SD (%)	9.1	7.0	0.045
Mean AFP after SBRT (ng/mL)	176.5 ± 35.0	18.4 ± 4.5	0.003
Mean ALP after SBRT (U/L)	120.0 ± 20.0	90.0 ± 15.0	0.007
Mean ALT after SBRT (U/L)	45.0 ± 10.0	30.0 ± 5.0	0.005
Mean AST after SBRT (U/L)	50.0 ± 12.0	35.0 ± 6.0	0.006
Mean GGT after SBRT (U/L)	60.0 ± 15.0	40.0 ± 8.0	0.004
Mean bilirubin after SBRT (mg/dL)	1.2 ± 0.3	0.8 ± 0.2	0.009
Mean platelets after SBRT (103/μL)	200 ± 40	220 ± 30	0.021
Mean WBC after SBRT (103/μL)	6.0 ± 1.0	5.5 ± 0.8	0.034
Mean hemoglobin after SBRT (g/dL)	12.0 ± 1.5	13.0 ± 1.0	0.015

CR: Complete response; PR: Partial response; SD: Stable disease; WBC: White blood cell; AFP: Alpha-fetoprotein; ALP: Alkaline phosphatase; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; GGT: Gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase; SBRT: Stereotactic body radiation therapy.

Table 3 Predictive analysis of recurrence risk: Cox hazard regression findings among study participants

	Univariate			Multivariate
	P value	HR	95%CI of HR	P value	HR	95%CI of HR
Age (years)	0.095	1.02	0.98-1.09	0.372	1.03	0.98-1.08
SBRT (yes)	< 0.001	0.12	0.02-0.28	0.002	0.08	0.02-0.34
Baseline AFP (ng/dL)	0.005	1	1-1.02	0.068	1	1-1.02
Baseline size of lesion (cm)	0.238	0.85	0.57-1.16	0.285	0.83	0.58-1.19
Baseline number of lesions	0.975	1.02	0.50-2.05
Number of affected lobes (bilobular)	0.825	0.92	0.46-1.90
CR after TACE	0.430	0.45	0.05-3.65

CR: Complete response; AFP: Alpha-fetoprotein; SBRT: Stereotactic body radiation therapy; TACE: Transarterial chemoembolization; HR: Hazard ratio.