TACE plus radiotherapy improves outcomes in poor-prognosis hepatocellular carcinoma

“Sorafenib is the sole treatment option for these patients, with unsatisfactory response and survival benefit,” they wrote.

Building on observational studies suggesting TACE plus external beam therapy may be a promising approach, Dr. Yoon and colleagues initiated a randomized, open-label clinical trial including 90 patients with liver-confined HCC and macroscopic vascular invasion.

Patients were randomized to sorafenib either 400 mg twice daily or TACE every 6 weeks plus radiotherapy starting within 3 weeks of the first TACE, according to the study description.

The primary endpoint, 12-week progression-free survival, was 86.7% for patients receiving TACE plus radiotherapy, versus 34.3% for patients receiving sorafenib (P less than .001).