title: Comparison of the efficacy of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization and sorafenib for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: The aim of the present study was to compare overall survival between stage IVA or stage IVB hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients who received transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) and those who were treated with sorafenib. This retrospective comparative study included 55 patients with stage IVA or IVB HCC in whom TACE was performed as an initial treatment (the TACE group) and 56 patients with stage IVA or IVB HCC to whom sorafenib was administered (the sorafenib group). We compared the overall survival between these two groups. In the TACE group, there were 46 stage IVA HCC patients and 9 stage IVB HCC patients. In the sorafenib group, there were 26 stage IVA HCC patients and 30 stage IVB HCC patients. Median overall survival times were 6.6 months in the TACE group and 9.2 months in the sorafenib group. The 1- and 2-year overall survival rates were 34.4 and 14.2%, respectively, in the TACE group and 34.0 and 6.7%, respectively, in the sorafenib group. In terms of overall survival, there was no significant difference between the two groups (P=0.814). In subgroup analyses, according to HCC stage [stage IVA (P=0.266) or stage IVB (P=0.183)] and Child-Pugh classification [Child-Pugh A (P=0.915) or Child-Pugh B (P=0.676)], there were also no significant differences between the two groups. In conclusion, our study results suggest that TACE could serve as a first-line treatment for stage IV HCC patients as well as sorafenib therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Osaka Red Cross Hospital, Tennoji-ku, Osaka 543-0027,  Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nishikawa
authors.forename: Yukio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Osaki
authors.forename: Eriko
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Iguchi
authors.forename: Haruhiko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takeda
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nakajima
authors.forename: Fumihiro
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Matsuda
authors.forename: Azusa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sakamoto
authors.forename: Shinichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Henmi
authors.forename: Keiichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hatamaru
authors.forename: Sumio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Akihiro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nasu
authors.forename: Ryuichi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kita
authors.forename: Toru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kimura