Sorafenib plus hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy with oxaliplatin versus sorafenib alone for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma

Objective:To compare the efficacy of sorafenib plus hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy（HAIC） with oxaliplatin to that of sorafenib alone in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma（HCC）.Methods:This was a retrospective,single-center trial.Between April 3,2017 and July 2,2018,104 patients with Child-Pugh A and advanced HCC received either 400 mg of sorafenib orally twice daily plus HAIC with oxaliplatin（oxaliplatin 85 mg/m;,every 3 weeks via repetitive catheterization）(n=46,soraOXA group) or 400 mg of only sorafenib orally twice daily（n=58,sorafenib group）.Overall survival,progression-free survival,objective response rate,and treatment-related adverse events were compared.Results:The median overall survival was 9.37 months（95% CI,7.05-11.68） in the soraOXA group versus 4.8 months（95% CI,2.98-6.62） in the sorafenib group（HR 0.46 [95% CI,0.29-0.72];P<0.001）.The soraOXA group also showed a higher objective response rate（16 [34.8%] vs 1 [1.7%];P <0.001） and a longer progressionfree survival rate（5.5 months [95% CI,2.32-8.68] vs 2.4 months [95% CI,1.65-3.15],HR 0.54 [95% CI,0.36-0.81],P=0.003） than the sorafenib group.There was no significant difference in the overall incidence of any grade adverse events,grade 3/4 adverse events,serious adverse events,or incidence of treatment termination due to adverse events between the two groups.Conclusion:Compared with sorafenib alone,sorafenib plus HAIC with oxaliplatin showed favorable treatment outcomes in patients with advanced HCC.The merits of this approach need to be established with a prospective trial.