Table 1 Characteristics of studies included in the meta-analysis
Study | Region | Group | N | Male/female | Age (year) | Child-Pugh grade: A/B/C | TMN stage: I/II/III/IV | Follow-up time (month) | Supplementation period (month) | Therapy for HCC | Study type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nagasue et al. | Japan | BCAA | 67 | 54/13 | <50:5 50–70:55 > 70:7 | 53/13/1 | 24/35/7/1 | 35.8 ± 17.9 | >12 | surgery | RCT |
1998 |  | control | 65 | 55/10 | <50:7 50–70:45 > 70:13 | 50/14/1 | 22/36/6/1 | 36.0 ± 17.7 |  |  |  |
Meng et al. | China | BCAA | 21 | 19/2 | 51.5 ± 10.8 | 17/4/0 | NA | 17 (0.2–33) | 3 | surgery | RCT |
1999 |  | control | 23 | 18/5 | 53.3 ± 12.8 | 20/3/0 | NA | 17 (2–33) |  |  |  |
Togo et al. | Japan | BCAA | 21 | 17/4 | 66.5 ± 4.5 | 15/7/0 | 2/14/2/3 | 12 | 12 | surgery | RCT |
2005 |  | control | 22 | 17/5 | 64.3 ± 9.1 | 17/5/0 | 3/12/4/3 | 12 |  |  |  |
Okabayashi et al. | Japan | BCAA | 40 | 29/11 | 65.7 ± 8.6 | 33/7/0 | NA | 16 (2–47) | 0.5 | surgery | cohort |
2008 |  | control | 72 | 55/17 | 68.3 ± 8.1 | 62/10/0 | NA | 23 (2–84) |  |  |  |
Ichikawa et al. | Japan | BCAA | 26 | 18/8 | 64.7 ± 9.8 | 21/5/0 | NA | 40 (7–48) | 6.5 | surgery | RCT |
2013 |  | control | 30 | 20/10 | 64.5 ± 11.4 | 25/5/0 | NA | 36 (6–50) |  |  |  |
Kuroda et al. | Japan | BCAA | 20 | 13/7 | 65.6 ± 7.0 | 8/11/1 | 6/11/3/0 | 12 | 12 | RFA | cohort |
2010 |  | control | 15 | 9/6 | 66.0 ± 8.1 | 6/8/1 | 5/8/2/0 | 12 |  |  |  |
Yoshiji et al. | Japan | BCAA | 16 | 10/6 | 63.7 ± 10.8 | 12/4/0 | 10/5/1/0 | 48 | 48 | RFA | RCT |
2011 |  | control | 26 | 16/10 | 62.5 ± 11.5 | 21/5/0 | 18/7/1/0 | 48 |  |  |  |
Nishikawa et al. | Japan | BCAA | 115 | 64/51 | 69.3 ± 9.4 | 83/30/2 | 41/58/16/0 | 30 (2–95) | >1 | RFA | cohort |
2013 |  | control | 141 | 83/58 | 70.9 ± 7.8 | 88/52/1 | 60/60/21/0 | 29 (1–84) |  |  |  |
Poon et al. | China | BCAA | 41 | 39/2 | 59 (24–84) | NA | 30/11/0/0 | 29 (18–44 ) | 12.5 | TACE | RCT |
2004 |  | control | 43 | 39/4 | 59 (27–80) | NA | 31/12/0/0 | 30 (18–43) |  |  |  |
Kanekawa et al. | Japan | BCAA | 49 | 43/6 | 66.3 ± 7.0 | 23/26/0 | 0/0/41/8 | NA | NA | HAIC | cohort |
2014 |  | control | 43 | 34/9 | 68.0 ± 7.0 | 30/13/0 | 0/0/29/14 | NA |  |  |  |
Takeda et al. | Japan | BCAA | 33 | 27/7 | 72 (55–88) | 16/18/0 | 0/2/15/17 | NA | NA | sorafenib | cohort |
2014 |  | control | 44 | 37/7 | 68 (46–89) | 30/14/0 | 0/2/11/31 | NA |  |  |  |