Wu FX, et al. - A research was conducted to gauge the safety and efficacy of transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) combined with sorafenib and sorafenib mono-therapy in patients with Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage B/C hepatocellular carcinoma. As per observations, combining TACE with sorafenib appeared to prolong survival and delay disease progression in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) than sorafenib alone.

Methods

• 104 patients with BCLC stage B/C HCC were enrolled at the Affiliated Tumor Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, China, between August 2004 and November 2014.
• Sorafenib alone was given to forty-eight patients (sorafenib group), and 56 patients were treated with TACE plus sorafenib (TACE + sorafenib group).
• Experts gathered baseline demographic/clinical data.
• Median overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were the primary outcomes, and secondary outcomes were overall response rate (ORR) and sorafenib-related adverse events (AEs).
• Multivariate Cox hazards regression was used to ascertain baseline characteristics associated with disease prognosis.

Results

• As per observations, the mean age of the 104 patients (94 males; 90.38%) was 49.02 ± 12.29 years.
• Only albumin level (P = 0.028) and Child-Pugh class (P = 0.017) differed significantly between groups, among the baseline data.
• Between the sorafenib and TACE + sorafenib groups (18.0 vs. 22.0 months, P = 0.223), median OS did not differ significantly.
• Findings suggested significantly shorter median PFS in the sorafenib group than that in the TACE + sorafenib group (6.0 vs. 8.0 months, P = 0.004).
• The ORRs were similar between the sorafenib and TACE + sorafenib groups (12.50% vs. 18.75%, P = 0.425), six months after treatments.
• 29.2% vs. 23.2% were the rates of grade III–IV adverse events in sorafenib and TACE + sorafenib groups.
• This study outlined an association of TACE plus sorafenib treatment (HR = 0.498, 95% CI = 0.278–0.892), no vascular invasion (HR = 0.354, 95% CI = 0.183–0.685) and Child-Pugh class A (HR = 0.308, 95% CI = 0.141–0.674) with better OS.
• In addition, a larger tumor number was predictive of poorer OS (HR = 1.286, 95% CI = 1.031–1.604).
• An association of TACE plus sorafenib treatment (HR = 0.461, 95% CI = 0.273–0.780) and no vascular invasion (HR = 0.557, 95% CI = 0.314–0.988) with better PFS, was noticed.