Efficacy and safety of TACE in combination with sorafenib for the treatment of TACE-refractory advanced hepatocellular carcinoma in Chinese patients: a retrospective study

BACKGROUND Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) and sorafenib (SOR) are well-established treatments for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study evaluates the efficacy and safety of SOR combined with TACE in the treatment of patients with TACE-refractory, advanced-stage HCC. METHODS This retrospective study included 61 patients with TACE-refractory advanced HCC. Patients were divided into TACE + SOR (n=30) and TACE (n=31) treatment groups. Patient demographic and clinical characteristics, overall survival (OS), time to progression (TTP), disease control rate (DCR), and adverse events (AEs) were compared between the two groups. RESULTS Compared with TACE alone, the 5-year OS and TTP were prolonged in the TACE + SOR group (median OS: 17.9 vs 7.1 months, P<0.001; median TTP: 9.3 vs 3.4 months, P<0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that Child-Pugh class A (hazard ratio [HR], 0.234; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.092-0.595), Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status 1 (HR, 0.355; 95% CI, 0.153-0.826), alpha-fetoprotein <400 ng/mL (HR, 0.349; 95% CI, 0.177-0.689), and TACE + SOR treatment (HR, 0.151; 95% CI, 0.071-0.322) were independent, positive predictive factors of OS. CONCLUSION The OS and TTP in the combined treatment group were significantly improved when compared with the TACE group. However, no significant difference in DCR was found between these two groups. While no AEs occurred in the TACE group, two patients in the TACE + SOR group experienced severe AEs which were effectively mitigated by lowering the dose of SOR. Thus, SOR in combination with TACE is a safe and effective treatment for advanced-stage, prior-TACE-resistant HCC.