title: Transarterial chemoembolization combined with percutaneous radiofrequency ablation versus TACE and PRFA monotherapy in the treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma: a meta-analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Interventional Radiology, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, 107 Yanjiang West Road, Guangzhou 510210, People's Republic of China. jiayan_0129@126.com
authors.forename: Jia-yan
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Ni
authors.forename: Shan-shan
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Lin-feng
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Hong-liang
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Yao-ting
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000628:therapy*; D017115:Catheter Ablation; D016461:Chemoembolization, Therapeutic; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D011379:Prognosis; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic