title: Comparison of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization and microsphere embolization for treatment of unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma: a meta-analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Survival of patients with surgically unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is very poor due to the limited effective treatments available. Transhepatic arterial chemoembolization (TACE) and microsphere embolization may offer hope for such patients; however, to date, their efficacy has not been evaluated. This study was designed to compare the effectiveness of these two treatments for patients with unresectable HCC.
  
  
  METHODS
  This meta-analysis searched literature using various databases and revealed 13 studies on surgically unresectable HCC patients treated with TACE or microsphere embolization. Response rate, 1-year survival, overall survival, and time to progression were then analyzed and compared.
  
  
  RESULTS
  These thirteen studies included 597 and 1,233 patients with unresectable HCC for microsphere embolization and chemoembolization treatments, respectively. The data showed that microsphere embolization therapy was significantly better for longer overall survival, 1-year survival, longer time to progression, and complete or partial response rate than that of chemoembolization treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These data demonstrated that microsphere embolization treatment of patients with surgically unresectable HCC provided much better survival and treatment response than that of TACE.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Statistics, The Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Jiajie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zang
authors.forename: Xiaojing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Rongxi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Long
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Jiamei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Jia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: He
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D016461:Chemoembolization, Therapeutic / Q000379:methods; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D004621:Embolization, Therapeutic / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006499:Hepatic Artery; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008863:Microspheres; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome