Sorafenib combined with thanscatheter artierial chemoembolzation in treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: Meta analysis

ObjectiveTo evaluate the effectiveness and toxicities of sorafenib combined with thanscatheter artierial chemoembolzation (TACE) in the treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). MethodsAccording to the Cochrane handbook for systematic review, two reviewers independently completed the whole process of literature search, study selection, data collection, and quality assessment. A manual and computerized search was performed using the PubMed, Embase, Chinese Journal Full-text Database, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, VIP Database for Chinese Technical Periodicals, and Chinese Medical Association Digital Periodicals to collect randomized controlled trials (RCT) of sorafenib in the treatment of advanced HCC published up to September 2012. The obtained data were analyzed with RevMan 5.0 software. ResultsSeven RCT involving 854 patients were finally included. Compared with sorafenib alone, sorafenib combined with TACE significantly prolonged the overall survival in HCC patients, but failed to reduce their mortality. The incidence of hand-foot syndrome, diarrhea, rash, and hypertension was significantly higher in combined treatment groups than in control groups, but the incidence of alopecia showed no significant difference between them. ConclusionSorafenib combined with TACE are effective and safe in the treatment of advanced HCC