Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32917226›Full record

SynthesisWorld journal of surgical oncology2020

The combination therapy of transarterial chemoembolisation and sorafenib is the preferred palliative treatment for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma patients: a meta-analysis.

Zhoujing Cheng, Lin He, Yingjie Guo, Yuhua Song, Shasha Song, Lijiu Zhang

Open access · goldAbstract readMeta-Analysis
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in World journal of surgical oncology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
18citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
2.4field-weighted citation impact, top 10% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

18 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 21 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Zhoujing ChengDepartment of Gastroenterology, The Second Hospital of Anhui Medical University, No.678 Furong Road, Jingkai District, Hefei, Anhui Province, China.
Lin HeBreast Center B ward, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Shandong Province, Qingdao, China.
Yingjie GuoDepartment of Gastroenterology, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Shandong Province, Qingdao, China.
Yuhua SongBreast Center B ward, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Shandong Province, Qingdao, China.
Shasha SongDepartment of Gastroenterology, The Second Hospital of Anhui Medical University, No.678 Furong Road, Jingkai District, Hefei, Anhui Province, China.
Lijiu ZhangDepartment of Gastroenterology, The Second Hospital of Anhui Medical University, No.678 Furong Road, Jingkai District, Hefei, Anhui Province, China. zhanglijiu6336@163.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0458-2891
Anhui Medical University · CNQingdao University · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundTo compare the efficacy of three types of palliative therapy for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), including transarterial chemoembolisation (TACE) monotherapy, sorafenib alone and their combination.

methodsThe databases of PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library were retrieved. The odds ratio (OR) with its 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to investigate the binary variables, and the standardised mean difference (SMD) with its 95% CI was employed to evaluate the continuous variables. All statistical tests were performed by using Stata/SE, version 12.0.

resultsThirty-one clinical studies, containing 5125 unique cases of patients with advanced HCC, were included. There were significant improvements in overall survival (OS) (pooled SMD = 2.54; 95% CI 1.74-3.34) and time to progression (TTP) (pooled SMD = 2.49; 95% CI 0.87-4.12) of the patients after receiving the combination therapy of TACE and sorafenib, compared to TACE monotherapy, and the OS in the combined treatment cohort was also longer than that in the sorafenib-alone cohort (pooled SMD = 2.92; 95% CI 1.72-4.13). The combination therapy group in comparison to the TACE group benefited a significantly increased overall response rate (ORR) (pooled OR = 2.61; 95% CI 1.43-4.77), 1-year (pooled OR = 2.96; 95% CI 1.71-5.14) and 2-year (pooled OR = 1.64; 95% CI 1.18-2.28) survival rates and reduced disease progression rate (DPR) (pooled OR = 0.47; 95% CI 0.33-0.68); in parallel, the ORR in the group was also significantly higher than that in the sorafenib-alone group (pooled OR = 3.62; 95% CI 1.28-10.22), although without a difference in the DPR (pooled OR = 0.28; 95% CI 0.05-1.48). In addition, we discovered that the 1-year (pooled OR = 1.39; 95% CI 0.84-2.29) and 2-year (pooled OR = 1.70; 95% CI 0.69-4.18) survival rates in the TACE monotherapy cohort were not significantly different to those in the sorafenib-alone cohort.

conclusionThe combination therapy is more effective than monotherapy in improving the prognostic outcomes of patients with advanced HCC. Therefore, we recommend it as the preferred treatment intervention for those patients.

Indexed as

Antineoplastic AgentsCarcinoma, HepatocellularChemoembolization, TherapeuticLiver NeoplasmsCombined Modality TherapyHumansNiacinamidePalliative CarePhenylurea CompoundsPrognosisSorafenibTreatment OutcomeAntineoplastic AgentsNiacinamidePhenylurea CompoundsSorafenibHepatocellular carcinomaMeta-analysisSorafenibTACE

Identifiers

PMID32917226
PMCPMC7488414
OpenAlexW3084533993

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.