Systematic review and meta-analysis of the efficacy and safety of high-intensity focused ultrasound combined with transarterial chemoembolization and transarterial chemoembolization alone in the treatment of liver cancer

• Published in: Translational cancer research 2022-06, Vol.11 (6), p.1678-1688
• Main Authors: Hu, Jie, Mao, Huiping, He, Yaxi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Original
• ISSN: 2218-676X; 2219-6803
• DOI: 10.21037/tcr-22-1094

BackgroundHigh-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) and transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) have been shown to be effective in the treatment of malignant tumors such as hepatocellular carcinoma. In recent years, HIFU combined with TACE has been frequently reported, but researchers have not yet reached a uniform conclusion on the efficacy and safety of this treatment modality. MethodsThe Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), China Biomedical Literature Database, Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, and Embase databases were searched using the terms "randomized controlled trial (RCT)", "liver cancer", "transarterial chemoembolization", "TACE", "high intensity focused ultrasound", "HIFU", "HIFU combined with TACE", and "efficacy analysis". Studies were included in accordance with the PICOS principle, and risk of bias was assessed in randomized controlled trials in accordance with the Cochrane Manual for Systematic Evaluation of Interventions. Rev Man 5.3 and Stata 13 were employed for meta-analysis. ResultsSix randomized controlled trials with a total sample size of 488 were included in this study. Of these studies, 5 described a random allocation (RA) method, 4 described allocation sequence concealment, and 4 used a blind method for the allocation of study subjects. The results of the meta-analysis showed that the 1-year [odds ratio (OR) =3.13, 95% CI: 1.92, 5.11, P