Figures & data
Table 1. The baseline characteristics of the 45 HCC patients.
Figure 1. Flow diagram illustrating the treatment process.
Forty-seven patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma who has been treated with TACE between September 2016 and August 2017 were included. Among these patients, twenty-two patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma responded positively to TACE treatment alone. Twenty-five patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma who experienced progression after TACE were prescribed with apatinib. Apatinib was administered orally at an initial dose of 250mg once a day. The starting dose was determined on an individual basis according to patients’ performance status and comorbidities, as per clinician discretion. The dose of apatinib was reduced to 125mg/day if the patients are intolerant or increased to 375mg/day if the patients are tolerant.
Table 2. Best overall response according to mRECIST.
Figure 2. Efficacy of TACE and TACE plus apatinib treatment.
(A) Kaplan–Meier survival curve showing progression-free survival (PFS) with combination of TACE and apatinib compared to TACE alone. Apatinib in combination with TACE significantly prolonged median PFS compared with TACE monotherapy. (B) Kaplan–Meier survival curve showing overall survival (OS) with combination of TACE and apatinib compared to TACE alone. Median OS was significantly improved in the apatinib plus TACE group compared with the TACE group.
Table 3. The Log Rank analysis of factors for survival benefit in the experimental group.
Table 4. The analysis of BCLC B and BCLC C.
Figure 3. Efficacy of the combination of TACE and apatinib.
(A) Kaplan–Meier survival curve showing the probability of overall survival (OS) stratifed by BCLC B and BCLC C. (B) Probability of progression-free survival (PFS) stratifed by BCLC B and BCLC C. The result showed patients with BCLC B has longer PFS and OS than BCLC C.
Figure 4. Survival curve of TACE and apatinib therapy in BCLC-B group.
(A) Kaplan–Meier survival curve showing improved overall survival with combination of TACE and apatinib compared to TACE alone in BCLC-B group. (B) Kaplan–Meier survival curve showing improved progression-free survival with combination of TACE and apatinib compared to TACE alone in BCLC-B group.
Figure 5. Survival curve of TACE and apatinib therapy in BCLC-C group.
(A) Kaplan–Meier survival curve showing improved overall survival with combination of TACE and apatinib compared to TACE alone in BCLC-C group. (B) Kaplan–Meier survival curve showing improved progression-free survival with combination of TACE and apatinib compared to TACE alone in BCLC-C group.
Table 5. Outcomes and adverse events.