Effect evaluation of hepatocellular carcinoma patients after propensity score matching
Shi Fu-yan · Journal of Zhengzhou University · 2012
Aim:To evaluate the effects of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization(TACE)combined with or without radiation therapy on two groups of hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) patients after balancing the covariates by propensity score.Methods:Each patient's propensity score from the model was calculated and made caliper matching according to the propensity score.And then make survival analysis for the matched data.Results:There were no significant differences in the survival rate between the 2 groups before matching,with χ2 of 1.792 and P of 0.181 from Log-Rank test.But the differences in the survival rate were statistically significant between the 2 groups after matching,with χ2 of 4.026 and P of 0.045 from Log-Rank test.Conclusion:Propensity score matching method can effectively reduce the confounding bias of non-randomized clinical observational data,helping us evaluate the curative effect of HCC patients correctly.