ABSTRACT
Objective To compare the differences in the long-term survival rate and the tumor shrinkage rate of inoperable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) between transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) combined with percutaneous ablation therapy and simple TACE therapy in order to provide the basis for the clinical treatment of HCC.Methods Randomized controlled trials (RCT) for comparing the difference in survival rates between TACE plus PA and simple TACE for inoperable HCC were searched from medical literature database,from which the relevant data were extracted.According to Cochrane manual standard,the quality of inclusion literature was evaluated.Results A total of 15 RCT papers were included in this study,including 859 HCC patients.The results of meta-analysis showed that all the 1-year,2-year and 3-year survival rates in TACE plus PA group were better than those in simple TACE group (RR=1.454,95％CI=1.333and 1.586,Z=8.56,P＜0.001;RR=1.781,95％CI=1.511 and 2.099,Z=6.88,P＜0.001;RR=2.351,95％CI=1.808 and 3.059,Z=6.37,P＜0.001,respectively).The tumor shrinkage rate in TACE plus PA group was also better than that in simple TACE group (RR=1.314,95％CI=1.190 and 1.452,Z=5.38,P＜0.001).The sensitivity analysis indicated that the results of the differences in survival rate and tumor shrinkage rate between the two groups were reliable.Conclusion The 1-year,2-year and 3-year survival rates as well as the tumor shrinkage rate of TACE plus PA group are higher than those of simple TACE group.