TABLE 1.
Baseline characteristics of included studies in the meta-analysis.
| Study | Study design | Group | Patients | Gender (M/F) | Age | HBV (Y/N) | Child pugh (A/B/C) | BCLC (A/B/C) | AFP (ng/ml) | Tumour size (cm) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sumie et al. (2003) | Retrospective | HAIC | 16 | 12/4 | 66.5 (46–76) | 1/15 | 7/9/0 | n/a | 81 (9–47,000) | ≤5, n = 11 |
| >5, n = 5 | ||||||||||
| TACE | 21 | 16/5 | 67 (36–80) | 2/19 | 13/8/0 | n/a | 290 (1.7–120,000) | ≤5, n = 14 | ||
| >5, n = 7 | ||||||||||
| Kim et al. (2010) | Prospective | HAIC | 36 | n/a | 53 ± 10.9 | 30/6 | 33/3/0 | 0/12/19 | 1,561 (3.2–155800) | 12 ± 4 (5.5–24.8) |
| TACE | 31 | n/a | 55 ± 9.2 | 26/5 | 20/11/0 | 0/5/31 | 1750 (3.12–195000) | 13.8 ± 4 (10–26) | ||
| He et al. (2017) | Prospective | HAIC | 38 | 30/8 | ≤60, n = 27 | 36/2 | 38/0/0 | 15/23/0 | ≤400, n = 12 | <10, n = 12 |
| >60, n = 11 | >400, n = 26 | ≥10, n = 26 | ||||||||
| TACE | 41 | 37/4 | ≤60, n = 27 | 36/5 | 41/0/0 | 11/30/0 | ≤400, n = 15 | <10, n = 12 | ||
| >60, n = 14 | >400, n = 26 | ≥10, n = 29 | ||||||||
| Hu et al. (2020) | Retrospective | HAIC | 22 | 21/1 | 52.5 (43.5–59.0) | 21/1 | 20/2/0 | 0/0/22 | 2019.5 (235.0–5,821.5) | 7.7 (4.85–12.1) |
| TACE | 24 | 20/4 | 54 (49.0–62.0) | 23/1 | 21/3/0 | 0/0/24 | 3,774.5 (151.9–15,032) | 8.2 (7.05–13.5) | ||
| Li et al. (2021) | Retrospective | HAIC | 101 | 89/12 | 50 (18–75) | 90/11 | n/a | 0/0/101 | ≤400, n = 36 | ≤10, n = 39 |
| >400, n = 65 | >10, n = 62 | |||||||||
| TACE | 131 | 121/10 | 52 (24–75) | 114/17 | n/a | 0/0/131 | ≤400, n = 47 | ≤10, n = 83 | ||
| >400, n = 84 | >10, n = 48 | |||||||||
| Chao et al. (2021) | Retrospective | HAIC | 92 | 83/9 | 50.2 ± 11.3 | 73/19 | 92/0/0 | 0/0/92 | <400, n = 27 | 10.8 ± 3.4 |
| ≥400, n = 65 | ||||||||||
| TACE | 68 | 61/7 | 51.1 ± 13.1 | 65/3 | 68/0/0 | 0/0/68 | <400, n = 25 | 11.0 ± 3.4 | ||
| ≥400, n = 43 | ||||||||||
| Li et al. (2022) | RCT | HAIC | 159 | 135/24 | 53 (44–63) | 140/19 | 159/0/0 | 60/99/0 | ≤400, n = 83 | ≤10, n = 84 |
| >400, n = 76 | >10, n = 75 | |||||||||
| TACE | 156 | 141/15 | 54 (43–62) | 141/15 | 156/0/0 | 54/102/0 | ≤400, n = 75 | ≤10, n = 84 | ||
| >400, n = 81 | >10, n = 72 | |||||||||
| Chen et al. (2022) | Retrospective | HAIC | 62 | 54/8 | 53.2 ± 10.3 | 59/3 | 54/8/0 | 0/32/30 | ≤400, n = 23 | ≤10, n = 27 |
| >400, n = 39 | >10, n = 35 | |||||||||
| TACE | 62 | 46/16 | 53.5 ± 12.7 | 59/3 | 55/7/0 | 0/37/25 | ≤400, n = 22 | ≤10, n = 27 | ||
| >400, n = 40 | >10, n = 35 |
n/a, not available; AFP, alpha-fetoprotein; BCLC, barcelona clinic liver cancer; HAIC, hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy; HBV, hepatitis B virus; RCT, Randomized controlled trial. TACE, trans-arterial chemoembolization.