BACKGROUND: Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) has been used alone or in combination with three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3DCRT) for treating hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The overall survival rate of HCC patients undergoing both treatments, however, has not been systematically studied. The aim of this meta-analysis-based study was to evaluate the overall efficacy of the combined therapy or monotherapy, thereby providing information for clinical treatment.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: We searched Google Scholar, PubMed, and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) for eligible studies, and a total of 17 case-control studies (including HCC patients treated by TACE plus 3DCRT or TACE alone) were included to perform the meta-analysis. Based on the available data, we assessed the improvements of 1-year, 2-year, and 3-year survival rate for the combination therapy of TACE and 3DCRT or TACE alone. Furthermore, the analysis was also stratified by the tumor response: complete response (CR), partial response (PR), no response (NR) and progressive disease (PD). Statistical analysis was performed using STATA 12 (Stata Statistical Software: Release 12).

RESULTS: The results show that HCC patients receiving combination therapy have significantly increased overall survival rate when compared to those receiving TACE alone (1-year survival rate: OR=1.95, 95% CI 1.54–2.47, p=7.3×10^–8; 2-year survival rate: OR=1.87, 95% CI 1.49–2.34, p=1.6×10^–7; 3-year survival rate: OR=2.00, 95% CI 1.52–2.64, p=1.8×10^–6).

CONCLUSIONS: Assessment of tumor response demonstrates that the combination therapy can efficiently increase the tumor response rate (CR+PR: OR=2.29, 95% CI 1.70–3.08, p=1.1×10^–7), with a lower rate of subsequent tumor development (PD: OR=0.25, 95% CI 0.15–0.40, p=5.5×10^–8).

Keywords: Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - therapy, Case-Control Studies, Catheter Ablation - methods, Chemoembolization, Therapeutic - methods, Combined Modality Therapy, Liver Neoplasms - therapy, Remission Induction, Survival Rate