Combining transarterial chemoembolization with radiofrequency ablation for hepatocellular carcinoma

• Published in: Tumor biology Vol. 35; no. 4; pp. 3405 - 3408
• Main Authors: Jiang, Guisheng, Xu, Xiaojun, Ren, Songtao, Wang, Li
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.04.2014; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Cancer Research; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - mortality; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - therapy; Catheter Ablation; Chemoembolization, Therapeutic; Chemotherapy; Clinical outcomes; Combined Modality Therapy; Humans; Liver cancer; Liver Neoplasms - mortality; Liver Neoplasms - therapy; Medical procedures; Meta-analysis; Publication Bias; Radiology; Research Article; Survival Rate; Radiofrequency ablation; Liver cancer; Survival rate; Transarterial chemoembolization
• ISSN: 1010-4283; 1423-0380
• DOI: 10.1007/s13277-013-1449-9

The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of combination of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) with that of RFA alone in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). All possible trials comparing RFA plus TACE with RFA alone for HCC were included into this meta-analysis. We estimated the summary odds ratio (OR) with its 95 % confidence interval (95 % CI) to assess the effects. Nineteen eligible studies matched the selection criteria, including 1,728 patients. Meta-analysis showed that the combination of TACE and RFA (OR 1 year  = 2.14, 95 % CI = 1.57–2.91, P  < 0.001; OR 3 years  = 1.98, 95 % CI = 1.28–3.07, P  = 0.001; OR 5 years  = 2.70, 95 % CI = 1.42–5.14, P  = 0.003) were associated with higher survival rates. No evidence of publication bias was observed. High-quality evidence suggests that TACE plus RFA improve the survival rates compared with RFA alone for patients with HCC.