Key clinical point: Time to progression and progression-free survival significantly improved among adults with HCC who received a combination of trans-arterial chemoembolization (TACE) and sorafenib compared to those who received TACE alone or with placebo; both objective response rate and disease control rate also improved in combination therapy patients.
Major finding: The combination therapy of trans-arterial chemoembolization (TACE) and sorafenib significantly improved time to progression (hazard ratio 0.73; P = 0.03) and progression-free survival (HR 0.62; P < 0.00001) compared to TACE alone or with placebo; however, the combination did not improve overall survival compared to the other groups.
Study details: The data come from a meta-analysis of 7 randomized, controlled trials with a total of 1,464 patients; of these, 734 had TACE plus sorafenib and 730 had TACE plus placebo or TACE only.
Disclosures: The study was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. The researchers had no financial conflicts to disclose.
Source: Dai Y et al. Transl Oncol. 2021 Oct 7. doi: 10.1016/j.tranon.2021.101238.