Hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy combined with sorafenib versus sorafenib alone for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis

The clinical benefits and safety of hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) combined with sorafenib versus sorafenib alone for advanced HCC are inconsistent in clinical studies. This meta-analysis aims to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of HAIC combined with sorafenib versus sorafenib alone for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We searched the database up to March 1, 2023, for studies evaluating the effectiveness and safety of HAIC combined with sorafenib versus sorafenib alone for advanced HCC. This study was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42022323712). Outcomes included overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), objective response rate (ORR), diseases control rate (DCR), and adverse effects (AEs). The hazard ratio (HR) and odd ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to measure the pooled effect. Six studies with 318 patients in the combination group and 338 patients in the control group were included. Meta-analysis showed that HAIC combined with sorafenib significantly improves OS compared with sorafenib alone (HR = 9.70, 95% CI 4.52–20.82] and HAIC combined with sorafenib significantly improves PFS compared with sorafenib alone (HR = 9.48, 95% CI 4.47–20.13). Besides, HAIC combined with sorafenib did not show significantly advantage of DCR rate (OR = 1.85, 95% CI 0.93–3.69), but associated with higher rates of ORR compared with sorafenib alone (OR = 9.85, 95% CI 3.05–31.85). HAIC combined with sorafenib can achieve a better effect and survival benefits than sorafenib alone in patients with advanced HCC, but the limitation should be treated with cautions.