Transarterial chemoembolization combined with percutaneous radiofrequency ablation versus TACE and PRFA monotherapy in the treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma: a meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: This meta-analysis was designed to compare the effectiveness of the combination of transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) and percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (PRFA) with that of TACE and PRFA monotherapy in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: Randomized controlled trials were searched using various databases, and six studies were revealed on comparing TACE plus PRFA with TACE and/or PRFA alone for the treatment for HCC. Overall survival rate and recurrence-free survival rate were analyzed and compared. All statistic analyses were conducted using Review Manager (version 4.2.2.) from the Cochrane collaboration. RESULTS: Meta-analysis data revealed that TACE plus PRFA had significantly better effectiveness on 1- and 3-year overall survival rate(odds ratio [OR] 1-year = 4.61, 95 % confidence interval [95 % CI] 2.26-9.42, P < 0.0001; OR 3-year = 2.79, 95 % CI 1.69-4.61, P < 0.0001) and 3-year recurrence-free survival rate ([OR] 3-year = 3.00, [95 % CI] 1.75-5.13, P < 0.0001) than that of TACE and/or PRFA alone treatment. There was no significant difference between the combined therapy and monotherapy on 1-year recurrence-free survival rate ([OR] 1-year = 1.55, [95 % CI] 0.91-2.65, P = 0.11). CONCLUSIONS: The data of our study indicate that the combination of TACE and PRFA has better effectiveness than that of TACE and PRFA monotherapy in the treatment for patients with HCC.