Table 1.
The basic characteristics included in this meta-analysis
| Study | Country | Type | Study arms | NP | Age | Gender (M/F) | Tumor size (cm) | Child-Pugh(A/B/C) | HBsAg+ | HCV-Ab+ | NOS score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shibata et al. [15] | Japan | Cohort study | TACE+RFA | 46 | 67.2±8.9 | 31/15 | 1.7±0.6 (0.9–3.0) | 32/14/0 | 12 | 32 | ******** |
| RFA | 43 | 69.8±8.0 | 33/10 | 1.6±0.5 (0.8–2.6) | 33/10/0 | 9 | 30 | ||||
| Yang et al. [36] | China | Cohort study | TACE+RFA | 31 | 57.8 (43.0–78.0) | 24/7 | 3.5 | 20/10/1 | NA | NA | ******** |
| TACE | 35 | 51.2 (30.0–74.0) | 30/5 | 3.6 | 21/13/1 | NA | NA | ||||
| RFA | 37 | 58.3 (38.0–80.0) | 27/10 | 3.8 | 23/13/1 | NA | NA | ||||
| Morimoto et al. [37] | Japan | RCT | TACE+RFA | 19 | 70.0 (57.0–78.0) | 15/4 | 3.6±0.7 | 18/1/0 | 0 | 17 | - |
| RFA | 18 | 73.0 (48.0–84.0) | 12/6 | 3.7±0.6 | 16/2/0 | 0 | 16 | ||||
| Kim et al. [16] | South Korea | Cohort study | TACE+RFA | 83 | 59.7±10.4 | 69/14 | 2.5±0.3 | 67/16/0 | 50 | 11 | ******** |
| RFA | 231 | 58.0±10.1 | 182/49 | 2.4±0.3 | 170/61/0 | 158 | 19 | ||||
| Peng et al. [38] | China | RCT | TACE+RFA | 69 | 57.5±10.0 (19.0–75.0) | 59/9 | NA | 60/9/0 | 63 | NA | - |
| RFA | 70 | 55.1±9.5 (22.0–75.0) | 55/15 | NA | 59/11/0 | 65 | NA | ||||
| Lin et al. [39] | China | Cohort study | TACE+RFA | 32 | 64.9±8.8 | 24/8 | 4.09±0.55 | NA | NA | NA | ******* |
| RFA | 30 | 60.1±10.2 | 23/7 | 3.94±0.54 | NA | NA | NA | ||||
| Peng et al. [40] | China | RCT | TACE+RFA | 94 | 53.3±11 | 75/19 | 3.47±1.44 | 90/4/0 | 85 | 6 | - |
| RFA | 95 | 55.3±13.3 | 71/24 | 3.39±1.35 | 90/5/0 | 83 | 6 | ||||
| Liu et al. [41] | China | Cohort study | TACE+RFA | 45 | 45.0–75.0 | 36/9 | 4.0–15.0 | 13/20/12 | NA | NA | ******* |
| TACE | 43 | 44.0–78.0 | 34/9 | 5.0–14.0 | 10/23/10 | NA | NA | ||||
| Yin et al. [42] | China | Cohort study | TACE+RFA | 55 | NA | 47/8 | 5.9 (5.0–8.0) | 48/7/0 | 36 | NA | ******** |
| TACE | 156 | NA | 138/18 | 6.0 (5.0–8.0) | 136/20/0 | 118 | NA | ||||
| Gao et al. [43] | China | Cohort study | TACE+RFA | 35 | 48.6±10.4 | 31/4 | 6.48±1.25 | 24/11/0 | 27 | NA | ******** |
| TACE | 32 | 51.8±11.0 | 29/3 | 7.05±1.47 | 25/7/0 | 26 | NA | ||||
| Hyun et al. [44] | Korea | Cohort study | TACE+RFA | 37 | 57.7±7.7 | 31/6 | NA | 34/3/0 | 30 | 1 | ******** |
| TACE | 54 | 59.5±9.5 | 42/12 | NA | 45/9/0 | 45 | 6 | ||||
| Shi et al. [45] | China | Cohort study | TACE+RFA | 31 | 64.0 (39.0–48.0) | 24/7 | NA | 29/2/0 | NA | NA | ******** |
| TACE | 43 | 64.0 (39.0–48.0) | 34/9 | NA | 39/4/0 | NA | NA | ||||
| Song et al. [46] | Korea | Cohort study | TACE+RFA | 87 | 60.4 (29.1–78.0) | 70/17 | 2.5 (1.0–4.6) | 80/7/0 | 58 | 21 | ******** |
| TACE | 71 | 60.0 (23.0–87.2) | 53/18 | 2.5 (1.0–4.7) | 68/3/0 | 49 | 14 | ||||
| RFA | 43 | 62.0 (35.0–88.0) | 31/12 | 2.2 (1.3–4.7) | 37/6/0 | 28 | 9 | ||||
| Tang et al. [47] | China | Cohort study | TACE+RFA | 40 | 48.28±13.48 | 29/11 | 5.35±1.10 | 18/22/0 | 16 | 9 | ******** |
| TACE | 43 | 45.84±15.08 | 33/10 | 5.64±1.41 | 19/24/0 | 23 | 7 | ||||
| RFA | 49 | 47.14±13.27 | 34/15 | 5.78±1.35 | 22/27/0 | 26 | 12 | ||||
| Kim et al. [48] | Korea | Cohort study | TACE+RFA | 105 | 63.4±9.7 | 82/23 | 2.83±0.76 | 98/7/0 | 71 | 17 | ********* |
| TACE | 102 | 62.4±10.2 | 81/21 | 2.87±0.92 | 82/20/0 | 60 | 20 | ||||
| Zhu et al. [49] | China | Cohort study | TACE+RFA | 35 | 47.5±10.3 | 26/9 | 5.97±1.28 | 24/11/0 | NA | NA | ******** |
| TACE | 37 | 48.1±10.8 | 29/8 | 6.02±1.31 | 28/9/0 | NA | NA | ||||
| Shimose et al. [50] | Japan | Cohort study | TACE+RFA | 68 | 70.5 (46–89) | 26/42 | 3.27 (2.1–5.8) | NA | 4 | 57 | ******** |
| TACE | 68 | 71 (48–85) | 27/41 | 3.14 (1.0–8.5) | NA | 10 | 50 | ||||
| Liu et al. [51] | China | Cohort study | TACE+RFA | 209 | 59.2 ± 4.0 (18–75) | 184/25 | NA | 189/20/0 | 180 | 10 | ******** |
| TACE | 195 | 58.7 ± 4.0 (20–75) | 165/30 | NA | 180/15/0 | 176 | 7 | ||||
| Lee et al. [52] | Korea | Cohort study | TACE+RFA | 82 | 60.3 ± 10.6 | 60/22 | 1.77±0.60 | 77/5/0 | 58 | 15 | ******** |
| TACE | 85 | 60.6 ± 10.3 | 59/26 | 1.91±0.62 | 76/9/0 | 64 | 5 | ||||
| Chu et al. [53] | Korea | Cohort study | TACE+RFA | 109 | 58.4 ± 10.2 | 83/26 | 3.7±0.5 | 93/16/0 | 79 | 17 | ******** |
| TACE | 314 | 60.5 ± 10.6 | 224/90 | 3.8±0.5 | 254/60/0 | 221 | 40 | ||||
| RFA | 115 | 61.1 ± 10.8 | 90/25 | 3.5±0.4 | 83/32/0 | 74 | 17 | ||||
| Endo et al. [54] | Japan | Cohort study | TACE+RFA | 46 | 74.0 (46.0–87.0) | 35/11 | 3.2 (1.2–4.8) | 36/10/0 | 5 | 27 | ******** |
| TACE | 46 | 74.0 (54.0–89.0) | 30/16 | 3.4 (1.1–4.9) | 31/15/0 | 3 | 24 |
TACE transcatheter arterial chemoembolization, RFA radiofrequency ablation, NP number of patients, NA not applicable, M/F male/famale, RCT randomized control trial, NOS Newcastle-Ottawa scale
Tabel 2 Subgroup analysis based on the tumor size and the age