Table 1. the main characteristics of included studies.
| Study | Region | Year | Treatment 1 | Treatment2 | Size1 | Size2 | Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peng (2013) | China | 2013 | TACE+RFA | RFA | 94 | 95 | 1234 |
| Adnan Muhammad (2013) | USA | 2013 | TACE+SOR | TACE | 13 | 30 | 1234 |
| Wei Bai (2013) | China | 2013 | TACE+SOR | TACE | 82 | 164 | 12 |
| Nicolini (2013) | Italy | 2013 | DEB-TACE | TACE | 22 | 16 | 1234 |
| Moreno-Luna (2013) | USA | 2013 | TARE-90Y | TACE | 61 | 55 | 1234 |
| Xu-Dong Qu (2012) | China | 2012 | TACE+SOR | TACE | 45 | 45 | 1234 |
| Song (2012) | Korea | 2012 | DEB-TACE | TACE | 60 | 69 | 123 |
| Recchia (2012) | Italy | 2012 | DEB-TACE | TACE | 35 | 70 | 123 |
| Peng (2011) | China | 2011 | TACE+RFA | RFA | 69 | 70 | 1234 |
| Masatoshi Kudo (2011) | Japan+South Korea | 2011 | TACE+SOR | TACE | 229 | 229 | 123 |
| Song (2011) | Korea | 2011 | DEB-TACE | TACE | 20 | 20 | 123 |
| Salem (2011) | USA | 2011 | TARE-90Y | TACE | 123 | 122 | 1234 |
| Wiggerman (2011) | Germany | 2011 | DEB-TACE | TACE | 22 | 22 | 123 |
| Sacco (2011) | Italy | 2011 | DEB-TACE | TACE | 33 | 34 | 123 |
| Malagari (2011) | Greece | 2011 | DEB-TACE | TACE | 41 | 43 | 1 |
| Kim (2010) | Korea | 2010 | TACE+RFA | RFA | 83 | 231 | 1234 |
| Morimoto (2010) | Japan | 2010 | TACE+RFA | RFA | 19 | 18 | 1234 |
| Li (2010) | China | 2010 | TACE+HIFU | TACE | 44 | 45 | 1234 |
| Tan (2010) | China | 2010 | TACE+SOR | TACE | 10 | 10 | 12 |
| Kooby (2010) | USA | 2010 | TARE-90Y | TACE | 27 | 44 | 1234 |
| Carr (2010) | USA | 2010 | TARE-90Y | TACE | 99 | 691 | 123 |
| Ferrer Puchol (2010) | Spain | 2010 | DEB-TACE | TACE | 47 | 25 | 1234 |
| Dhanasekaran (2010) | USA | 2010 | DEB-TACE | TACE | 45 | 26 | 12 |
| Shibata (2009) | Japan | 2009 | TACE+RFA | TACE | 46 | 43 | 234 |
| Yang-a (2009) | China | 2009 | TACE+RFA | RFA | 31 | 37 | 1234 |
| Yang-c (2009) | China | 2009 | RFA | TACE | 37 | 35 | 1234 |
| Yang-b (2009) | China | 2009 | TACE+RFA | TACE | 31 | 35 | 1234 |
| Cheng-b (2008) | China | 2008 | TACE+RFA | TACE | 96 | 95 | 1234 |
| Cheng-a (2008) | China | 2008 | TACE+RFA | RFA | 96 | 100 | 1234 |
| Cheng-c (2008) | China | 2008 | RFA | TACE | 100 | 95 | 1234 |
| Brunello (2008) | Italy | 2008 | RFA | PEI | 70 | 69 | 1234 |
| Wu (2005) | China | 2005 | TACE+HIFU | TACE | 24 | 26 | 12 |
| Becker (2005) | Germany | 2005 | TACE+PEI | TACE | 27 | 25 | 123 |
| Shiina (2005) | Japan | 2005 | RFA | PEI | 118 | 114 | 1234 |
| Lin (2005) | Taiwan | 2005 | PAI | PEI | 63 | 62 | 123 |
| Shim (2005) | Korea | 2005 | TACE+RT | TACE | 38 | 35 | 1234 |
| Lin-a (2004) | Taiwan | 2004 | RFA | PEI | 50 | 46 | 123 |
| Lin-b (2004) | Taiwan | 2004 | RFA | PEI | 50 | 50 | 123 |
| Zeng (2004) | China | 2004 | TACE+EBRT | TACE | 54 | 149 | 1234 |
| Lencioni (2003) | Italy | 2003 | RFA | PEI | 52 | 50 | 123 |
| Guo (2003) | China | 2003 | TACE+RT | TACE | 76 | 89 | 1234 |
| Kamada (2002) | Japan | 2002 | TACE+PEI | TACE | 32 | 37 | 1234 |
| Koda (2001) | Japan | 2001 | TACE+PEI | PEI | 26 | 26 | 234 |
| Chia-Hsien Cheng-b (2001) | China | 2001 | TACE+RT | RT | 17 | 9 | 1234 |
| Chia-Hsien Cheng-c (2001) | China | 2001 | RT | TACE | 9 | 16 | 1234 |
| Chia-Hsien Cheng-a (2001) | China | 2001 | TACE+RT | TACE | 17 | 16 | 1234 |
| Allgaier-b (1998) | Germany | 1998 | TACE+PEI | TACE | 39 | 33 | 12 |
| Allgaier-a (1998) | Germany | 1998 | TACE+PEI | PEI | 39 | 15 | 12 |
| Allgaier-c (1998) | Germany | 1998 | PEI | TACE | 15 | 33 | 12 |
| Bartolozzi (1995) | Italy | 1995 | TACE+PEI | TACE | 26 | 27 | 123 |
| Kato (1994) | Japan | 1994 | TACE+PEI | TACE | 24 | 22 | 123 |
1. TACE: transcatheter arterial chemoembolization; EBRT: external-beam radiation therapy; HIFU: high intensity focused ultrasound; PEI: percutaneous ethanol injection; RFA: radiofrequency ablation; RT: radiotherapy; SOR: sorafenib; TARE-90Y: yttrium-90 radioembolization; DEB-TACE: drug-eluting beads-transcatheter arterial chemoembolization; PAI: percutaneous acetic acid injection.
2. Outcomes: 1-overall survival of 1 year; 2-overall survival of 2 years; 3-overall survival of 3 years; 4-overall survival of 4 years