Table 1. Characteristics and quality of studies comparing HAIC with sorafenib in patients with advanced HCC.
| Author | Year | Country | Treatment | N | Age (mean) | Gender (M/F) | Etiology HBV/HCV/Other | Child-Pugh (A/B/C) | ECOG PS (0-1/≥2) | MVI (+/−) | EHS (+/−) | BCLC (B/C) | Quality score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hiramine (16) | 2011 | Japan | HAIC | 45 | 69.6* | 32/13* | 11/18/16* | 45/0/0* | NA | 29/16* | 6/39* | 0/45* | 6† |
| Sorafenib | 20 | 69.6 | 17/3 | 5/10/5 | 20/0/0 | NA | 10/10 | 5/15 | 0/20* | ||||
| Jeong (17) | 2012 | Korea | HAIC | 21 | 51* | 21/0 | 18/NA/NA* | 10/11/0* | 19/2* | 14/7* | 7/14* | 0/21* | 6† |
| Sorafenib | 20 | 59.5 | 11/9 | 13/NA/NA | 14/6/0 | 16/4 | 17/3 | 10/10 | 0/20* | ||||
| Nemoto (18) | 2014 | Japan | HAIC | 8 | 74.9 | 6/2* | NA | 4/4/0* | NA | NA | NA | NA | 5† |
| Sorafenib | 12 | 80.2 | 6/6 | NA | 10/2/0 | NA | NA | NA | NA | ||||
| Shiozawa (19) | 2014 | Japan | HAIC | 77 | 67.3* | 64/13* | 14/47/16* | 49/26/2* | NA | 26/51 | 3/74* | 42/35* | 6† |
| Sorafenib | 47 | 69.4 | 43/4 | 8/27/12 | 39/8/0 | NA | 7/40 | 8/39 | 24/23 | ||||
| Fukubayashi (20) | 2015 | Japan | HAIC | 128 | 65.5 | 113/15 | 33/77/18 | 79/49/0* | NA | 64/64* | 33/95* | 0/128* | 6† |
| Sorafenib | 72 | 68.9 | 51/21 | 15/36/21 | 61/11 | NA | 21/51 | 33/39 | 0/72 | ||||
| Kawaoka (21) | 2015 | Japan | HAIC | 136 | 67* | 123/13* | 33/75/28* | 136/0/0* | NA | 100/36 | 0/136* | 1/135 | 6† |
| Sorafenib | 41 | 69 | 29/12 | 15/24/2 | 41/0/0 | NA | 16/25 | 0/41 | 3/38 | ||||
| Kondo (22) | 2015 | Japan | HAIC | 44 | 71* | 32/12* | 33/1/10* | 31/13/0 | NA | 24/20 | 0/41* | 16/28 | 6† |
| Sorafenib | 83 | 70 | 74/9 | 53/16/15 | 78/5/0 | NA | 21/62 | 0/44 | 58/25 | ||||
| Song (32) | 2015 | Korea | HAIC | 50 | 54.3* | 38/12* | 44/2/4* | 45/5/0* | 50/0* | 50/0* | 12/38* | 0/50* | 8† |
| Sorafenib | 60 | 55.8 | 44/16 | 41/5/14 | 47/13/0 | 60/0 | 60/0 | 21/39 | 0/60 | ||||
| Hatooka (23) | 2016 | Japan | HAIC | 48 | 68* | 42/6* | 11/32/5* | 48/0/0* | 48/0* | NA | 0/65* | 42/6* | 5† |
| Sorafenib | 48 | 68 | 36/12 | 12/33/3 | 48/0/0 | 48/0 | NA | 0/58 | 42/6 | ||||
| Moriguchi (24) | 2017 | Japan | HAIC | 32 | 65* | 29/3* | 12/7/13 | 32/0/0* | 32/0* | 32/0* | 7/25* | 0/32* | 6† |
| Sorafenib | 14 | 68 | 12/2 | 4/8/2 | 14/0/0 | 14/0 | 14/0 | 5/9 | 0/14 | ||||
| Nakano (33) | 2017 | Japan | HAIC | 44 | 63.4* | 33/11* | 6/29/9* | 44/0/0* | 44/0* | 44/0* | 0/44* | 0/44 | 7† |
| Sorafenib | 20 | 65.4 | 17/3 | 5/8/7 | 20/0/0 | 20/0 | 20/0 | 0/20 | 0/20 | ||||
| Terashima (25) | 2017 | Japan | HAIC | 139 | 69* | 111/28* | 36/75/28* | 139/0/0* | NA | 57/82* | 24/115 | NA | 7† |
| Sorafenib | 51 | 69 | 45/6 | 16/24/11 | 51/0/0 | NA | 18/33 | 25/26 | NA | ||||
| Yang (26) | 2017 | Korea | HAIC | 54 | 54.4* | 50/4 | 44/6/4* | 25/29* | NA | 54/0* | 28/26* | 0/54 | 7† |
| Sorafenib | 53 | 58.0 | 39/14 | 43/4/6 | 34/19 | NA | 53/0 | 35/18 | 0/53 | ||||
| Choi (34) | 2018 | Korea | HAIC | 29 | 60.3* | 25/4* | 21/0/8* | 27/2/0* | 29/0* | 29/0* | 29/0* | 0/29 | 3‡ |
| Sorafenib | 29 | 60.2 | 27/2 | 18/5/6 | 25/4/0 | 29/0 | 29/0 | 29/0 | 0/29 | ||||
| Kang (27) | 2018 | Korea | HAIC | 95 | 55.3* | 84/11* | 67/2/26* | 59/36* | NA | 73/22* | 21/74* | 19/72* | 8† |
| Sorafenib | 44 | 56.6 | 37/7 | 34/2/8 | 30/14 | NA | 27/17 | 17/27 | 17/25 | ||||
| Kodama (28) | 2018 | Japan | HAIC | 150 | 68* | 135/15* | 38/92/20* | 150/0/0* | 149/1* | 110/40 | 0/150* | NA | 8† |
| Sorafenib | 134 | 69 | 102/32 | 22/79/23 | 134/0/0 | 131/3 | 39/95 | 0/134 | NA | ||||
| Lyu (29) | 2018 | China | HAIC | 180 | 51* | 160/20* | 156/16/8* | 119/61* | 102/78* | 98/82* | 108/72* | 4/176* | 8† |
| Sorafenib | 232 | 51 | 216/16 | 186/31/15 | 159/73 | 136/96 | 129/103 | 136/96 | 3/229 | ||||
| Moriya (30) | 2018 | Japan | HAIC | 21 | 69* | 16/5* | NA | 21/0* | NA | 10/11 | 1/20 | NA | 5† |
| Sorafenib | 45 | 73 | 38/7 | NA | 45/0 | NA | 10/35 | 20/25 | NA | ||||
| Ahn (31) | 2021 | Korea | HAIC | 38 | 53.0 | 30/8* | 33/2/2/1* | 27/11* | 36/2* | 38/0* | 2/36 | 0/38* | 5† |
| Sorafenib | 35 | 58.3 | 30/5 | 24/2/6/3 | 24/11 | 33/2 | 35/0 | 16/19 | 0/35 |
†, quality assessed using Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS); ‡, study quality assessed using JADAD score; *, Data were comparable between two groups. HAIC, hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy; F, female; M, male; HBV, hepatitis B virus; HCV, hepatitis C virus; ECOG PS, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status Scale, MVI, macroscopic vascular invasion; EHS, extrahepatic spread; NA, not available.