Baseline HBV loads do not affect PFS
During treatment, 35 patients (50.0%) had a progressive disease. The median PFS time was 7.5 months. There was no significant difference in PFS between patients with a baseline HBV DNA level ≤ 2000 IU/mL and those with a DNA level > 2000 IU/mL (χ² = 0.075; P = 0.784) (Figure 2). To further identify whether baseline variables, especially HBV loads, affect PFS, univariate and multivariate Cox analyses were conducted. Univariate Cox regression analysis identified the following factors that affected PFS: tumour lesion number <3 (OR 0.428, 95% CI, 0.187–0.982; P = 0.045), AFP level <400 ng/mL (OR 0.448, 95% CI, 0.227–0.883; P = 0.020), and TBIL (OR 1.036, 95% CI, 1.006–1.066; P = 0.018). We then included these significant factors in a multivariate analysis, but found no independent predictive factors that affected PFS (Figure 3).