A necrosis rate of 100% was assumed to indicate complete necrosis; a rate of 99% or less was considered to indicate incomplete necrosis. For the purpose of

evaluating the percentage of complete necrosis according to tumor size, the HCCs were grouped by size: ≤2, 2.1 to 3.0, and 3.1 to 5.0 cm. Continuous variables were reported as means and standard deviations, medians and ranges, or both; the differences between the subgroups were analyzed with the t test after the Levene correction, analysis of variance, or the Mann-Whitney test as appropriate. Categorical variables were reported as numbers and percentages, and the differences between the subgroups were analyzed with the chi-square test with a Yates correction. The amounts BAY 57-1293 in vivo of tumor necrosis were reported

both as continuous variables and as semiquantitative values, and the differences between subgroups were calculated. In order to identify the potential relationships between the covariates with respect to tumor necrosis, all variables significantly affecting tumor necrosis in the univariate analysis were entered into a multivariate logistic regression model to identify the independent predictors of complete tumor necrosis. A P value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant Erastin cell line in all cases. Statistical analysis was carried out with SPSS 13.0 (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL). The baseline clinical and tumor characteristics of the study group are reported in Table 1. Thirty-eight of the 67 patients underwent selective/superselective TACE exclusively (56.7%), 27 patients underwent lobar TACE exclusively (40.3%), and 2 patients were treated with a combination of the two techniques (3%). In the latter check details two cases, lobar TACE and selective TACE were each used in only one

lobe, and this allowed an assessment of the treatment outcome for each technique. In order to limit the risk of liver decompensation, we never performed whole lobe treatments of both lobes in the same session (or whole liver treatments). Thirty-eight patients had a single course of TACE (56.7%), and the remaining 29 had two or more courses (43.3%). The median time from the first TACE procedure to LT was 8.7 months (range = 1-32 months), and the median time on the waiting list was 6.2 months (range = 1-29 months). For patients who underwent more than one TACE session, the median time from the last imaging procedure to LT was 2.6 months (range = 1-92 days). No patient of the present series experienced major complications related to the procedure, and none underwent LT within 30 days of the procedure (this could be interpreted as an expression of rapid deterioration of liver function). The median hospital stays were 4.5 days after lobar procedures (range = 2-65 days) and 3.5 days after selective/superselective TACE (range = 2-56 days, P = 0.651); clinically significant fever (maximum temperature > 38°C) occurred in 20 cases after lobar TACE (74.