title: Adjuvant transarterial chemoembolization for patients after curative resection of hepatocellular carcinoma: a meta-analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the efficacy and safety of adjuvant transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) after curative hepatectomy in improving the survival of patients with primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
  
  
  METHODS
  MEDLINE, Embase and the Cochrane Library were searched for randomized or nonrandomized studies comparing postoperative adjuvant TACE with curative resection alone. Meta-analysis was performed after converting time-event data into a hazard ratio (HR), using an inverse diversity model.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eight randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and 12 retrospective studies matched the selection criteria, thereby including 3191 patients (779 in RCT, 2412 in observational studies) for the meta-analysis. The meta-analysis showed that receiving adjuvant TACE was associated with improved overall survival (OS, ln[HR] = 0.70, 95%CI: 0.63-0.78, p < .001) and recurrence-free survival (RFS, ln[HR] = 0.69, 95%CI: 0.63-0.76, p < .001) after curative hepatectomies. The results of observational studies were consistent with those of RCTs. Furthermore, meta-regression was utilized to detect study-level factors associated with treatment outcome. It revealed that overall survival was similar among patients treated with various combinations of chemotherapeutic drugs. Subgroup analyses demonstrated that repeated TACE interventions do not provide a higher survival benefit compared with a single course, and patients with a single tumor or tumor size ≥5cm might stand to benefit the most from adjuvant TACE therapy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This meta-analysis demonstrated that postoperative adjuvant TACE could achieve higher OS and RFS than surgical resection alone. However, these results need to be validated through further high-quality clinical studies.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Liver Surgery , Liver Transplantation Division, West China Hospital, Sichuan University , Chengdu , China.
authors.forename: Mingheng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: a Department of Liver Surgery , Liver Transplantation Division, West China Hospital, Sichuan University , Chengdu , China.
authors.forename: Zexin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: a Department of Liver Surgery , Liver Transplantation Division, West China Hospital, Sichuan University , Chengdu , China.
authors.forename: Haichuan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: a Department of Liver Surgery , Liver Transplantation Division, West China Hospital, Sichuan University , Chengdu , China.
authors.forename: Jiwei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000628:therapy*; D016461:Chemoembolization, Therapeutic; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D006498:Hepatectomy / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011184:Postoperative Period; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Liver cancer; hepatocellular carcinoma; meta-analysis; postoperative adjuvant therapy; surgical resection; transarterial chemoembolization