A meta-analysis of Cinobufacini combined with transcatheterarterial chemoembolization in the treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.

Objective: The aim of this meta-analysis is to evaluate the clinical efficacy of cinobufacini combined with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) in the treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. Materials and Methods: By searching Medline, the Cochrane central register of controlled trials, EMBSE, ESMO, Wanfang and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) databases, the open published clinical trials compared the clinical efficacy of cinobufacini plus TACE versus TACE only in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma were collected. The pooled objective response rate (ORR) and 1 or 2 year survival rate were calculated by Stata11.0 statistical software. Results: Nine studies including a total of 659 subjects (333 in cinobufacini plus TACE and 326 in TACE only) were finally included in this meta-analysis. The pooled analysis demonstrated that cinobufacini plus TACE can significant increase the objective response rate (ORR) compared with TACE only with an relative risk of 1.28 (P = 0.006); The 1-year survival rate in cinobufacini plus TACE group was not significant difference compared with TACE only by pooling the data (RR = 1.24, P = 0.13); But the 2-year survival rate in cinobufacini plus TACE group was much higher than that of TACE only group with an RR of 2.0, (P = 0.001). Conclusion: This meta-analysis demonstrated that cinobufacini combined with TACE can significantly increase the objective response rate and 2-year survival rate compared with TACE only in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.