TABLE 2.

Intervention details of included studies.

Study	Group	Drugs and dosage	Courses	Interval	Termination
Sumie et al. (2003)	HAIC	Cisplatin (10 mg/person) for 1 h on days 1–5 followed by 5-fluorouracil (250 mg/person) for 5 h on days1–5	n/a	3 weeks	n/a
	TACE	Epirubicin (20–30 mg/person) and Lipiodol (2–4 ml)	n/a	3–4 weeks	n/a
Kim et al. (2010)	HAIC	5-fluorouracil (5-FU; 500 mg/m2) for 5 h on days 1–3 and cisplatin (60 mg/m2) for 2 h on day 2	3.4 ± 2.3 (1–11)	4 weeks	Until disease progressed or unacceptable toxicity was evident or withdraw consent
	TACE	Doxorubicin (10–60 mg) in a mixture of 5–10 ml of lipiodol and was partly accompanied by embolization using gelfoam in selected cases	1.7 ± 1.4 (1–8)	4–8 weeks
He et al. (2017)	HAIC	Oxaliplatin, 85 mg/m2 intra-arterial infusion on day 1; Leucovorin, 400 mg/m2 intra-arterial infusion on day 1; and 5-FU, 400 mg/m2 bolus infusion on day 1 and 2,400 mg/m2 continuous infusion over 46 h	3.8 ± 1.5 (1–6)	3 weeks	Both were discontinued when disease progression or intolerable AEs occurred, or patient was eligible for another treatment (surgical resection) or withdrew consent or no recovery occurred after a 30-day delay
	TACE	50 mg of epirubicin +50 mg of lobaplatin and 6 mg of mitomycin C mixed with 10 ml of lipiodol, embolization was performed with the injection of polyvinyl alcohol particles that were 300–500 μm in diameter	1.7 ± 0.8 (1–3)	6 weeks
Hu et al. (2019)	HAIC	Oxaliplatin (35–40 mg/m2) for 2 h followed by 5-FU (600–800 mg/m2 for 22 h) on days 1–3, 200 mg/m2 of leucovorin calcium for 2 h from the beginning of the 5-FU infusion	5 (2–9)	4 weeks	Patients received full 6 courses or severe liver function damage or with disease progression
	TACE	40–60 mg of epirubicin and 5–15 ml of lipiodol, embolization was performed with the injection of 150–350 µm/350–550 µm of gelatine sponge particle or 100–300 µm/300–500 µm mebospheres	1 (1–3)	4–6 weeks	No residual tumour or with contraindications for TACE
Li et al. (2021)	HAIC	Oxaliplatin 130 mg/m2 by intra-arterial over 2–4 h; leucovorin 200 mg/m2 infusion for 2 h, fluorouracil 400 mg/m2 bolus on day 1; 2,400 mg/m2 continuous i.a infusion over 46 h	4.2 (1–9)	3 weeks	Intrahepatic lesions progressed or toxicity became unacceptable
	TACE	60 mg of epirubicin and 5–20 ml of lipiodol, embolization was performed with the injection of gelatin sponge particles or 300–500 μm diameter polyvinyl alcohol particles	2.4 (1–12)	4 weeks	Doctors and the patient changed the subsequent therapy according to the follow-up results
Chao et al. (2021)	HAIC	Oxaliplatin (130 mg/m2 infusion for 3 h on day 1) + leucovorin (200 mg/m2 for 3–5 h on day 1) + Fluorouracil (400 mg/m2 in bolus, and then 2,400 mg/m2 continuous infusion 46 h)	4 (2–8)	3 weeks	Intrahepatic lesions progressed or toxicity became unacceptable
	TACE	10–20 ml lipiodol +30–50 mg lobaplatin +20–40-mg epirubicin, gel foam mixed with contrast medium was injected if necessary	2 (1–4)	4–6 weeks	n/a
Li et al. (2022)	HAIC	Oxaliplatin (130 mg/m2 from hour 0–2 on day 1) + leucovorin (400 mg/m2 from hour 2–3 on day 1) + fluorouracil (400 mg/m2 bolus at hour 3 on day 1 and 2,400 mg/m2 over 24 h)	3.6 (1.7)	3 weeks	tumour progression, the disappearance of any arterial enhancement in all intrahepatic lesions, intolerable toxicity, study treatment delays of more than 30 days, technical difficulty, the need for another anticancer treatment (such as surgery) at the physician’s discretion or at the patient’s request
	TACE	50 mg of epirubicin +50 mg of lobaplatin mixed with lipiodol + polyvinyl alcohol particles	2 (1.4)	6 weeks
Chen et al. (2022)	HAIC	Oxaliplatin (100 mg/m2, continuous infusion for 4 h) + raltitrexed (3 mg/m2, continuous infusion for 1 h)	3.5 (2–8)	3 weeks	the disease progressed, the toxicity levels could not be tolerated, or the patient refused to continue treatment
	TACE	5–20 ml of lipiodol + Epirubicin with gelatin sponge particles (150–350, 350–560, and 560–750 μm)	2.4 (1–8)	4–6 weeks

HAIC, hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy; TACE, trans-arterial chemoembolization.