ObjectiveTo balance the covariates by propensity score matching for better evaluating the efficiencies of surgery resection (SR) and transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) for treatment of early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. MethodsA total of 350 early-stage HCC patients treated by SR(192 cases) or TACE (158 cases) were collected from Shandong Tumor Hospital(2003 to 2011). Propensity score caliper matching was used to balance the covariance between the two groups. And then the matched data were subjected to survival analysis and the survival rates were compared between the two groups. ResultsThe covariates were imbalanced before matching; the 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-year survival rates and the median survival time of SR group were 80.92%, 49.44%, 33.73%, 19.72%, and 2.00 years, respectively; those of TACE group were 80.02%, 53.92%, 31.21%, 13.42%, and 2.40 years, respectively; and log-rank test showed no significant differences in the survival rates between the two treatment groups (P=0.710 8). The covariates were balanced after matching; the 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-year survival rates and the median survival time of SR group were 84.22%, 57.68%, 36.80%, 24.09%, and 2.50 years, respectively; those of TACE group were 73.84%, 47.26%, 28.31%, 10.69%, and 2.00 years, respectively; and log-rank test showed significant difference in the survival rates between the two groups (P=0.018 2). The survival rate of SR group was higher than that of TACE group. ConclusionAfter reducing the confounding bias by Propensity score matching method, SR showes a better efficiency for early HCC patients compared with TACE.