ArticleEClinicalMedicine2026
Efficacy and safety of multiple treatments for small hepatocellular carcinoma: an updated systematic review and component network meta analysis.
Article in EClinicalMedicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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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.
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
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Abstract
Background: This is an updated component network meta-analysis to evaluate efficacy and safety of various therapeutic approaches and their combinations for small hepatocellular carcinoma (SHCC) following PRISMA 2020 guideline. Methods: We screened two previously published meta-analyses on this topic, and searched PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library from 1 January 2021 to 12 March 2026 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) focusing on treatments of SHCC. We compared the efficacy and safety of surgical resection (SR), radiofrequency ablation (RFA), microwave ablation (MWA), transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE), radiotherapy (RT), and their combinations. Outcomes were overall survival (OS), recurrence-free survival (RFS), and the rate of complications. Standard network meta-analysis (NMA), component NMA were performed, adding subgroup analysis, network meta-regression, and meta-regression between outcomes for sensitive analysis. This study is registered in PROSPERO (CRD420251132447). Findings: We included 41 RCTs involving 5804 patients. RFA + Interpretation: SR remains the foundational treatment for SHCC, and TACE + SR exhibits superior efficacy in SHCC patients. RFA + Funding: This study is funded by 1.3.5 project for disciplines of excellence-Clinical Research Incubation Project, West China Hospital, SCU; 1.3.5 project for Artificial Intelligence West China Hospital, SCU; National Natural Science Foundation of China for Young Scientists Fund; Sichuan Science and Technology Program; (Qilu) Clinical Research of Sichuan Anticancer Association.
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