Trans-catheter arterial chemoembolization plus Sorafenib, an unsuccessful therapy in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma?: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Trans-catheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) plus Sorafenib is recommended as one of the primary means for treating hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This updated meta-analysis focuses on identifying the efficacy and safety of TACE plus Sorafenib versus TACE, which remains controversial despite years of exploration. METHOD: PubMed, Medline, Embase, China Journal Full-text Database, Wanfang Database, and Weipu Database were used to retrieve the studies which are about comparing the clinical efficacy and safety of TACE+Sorafenib with TACE alone. The Review Manager (Version 5. 3) software was used to perform a meta-analysis of the results of studies which met the inclusion criteria recommended by the Cochrane Collaboration. RESULT: Compared with TACE for treating primary HCC, TACE combined with Sorafenib can improve the 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, and 5 years overall survival rate (OS) of patients, respectively, and also improve disease control rate (DCR) and objective response rate (ORR). In terms of adverse reactions, the treatment group can lead to more complications significantly, such as hand-foot skin reaction, hypertension, diarrhea, rash, hair loss, and so on, most of which are relevant to Sorafenib related adverse reactions, but most patients have a good prognosis after symptomatic treatment. CONCLUSION: The clinical efficacy of TACE combined with Sorafenib in treating primary hepatocellular carcinoma is better than TACE, and the safety is acceptable.