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| Image of liver – BodyParts3D public domain |
The study involved 2112 people with liver cancer, with 426 treated with a combination of the targeted drug sorafenib (Nexavar®) and a radiological therapy called TACE, for trans arterial chemoembolization, and 1686 in the sorafenib alone group.
TACE blocks blood vessels feeding a tumor to starve the malignant tumor. Sorafenib is thought to interfere with enzymes involved in signaling cell division and blood vessel growth.
In a previous clinical study of the combination therapy found no increase in survival for patients treated with sorafenib and TACE.
In the current study the researchers used a special statistical method to carefully match characteristics of patients in the two groups. Results published in the June 17, 2019 Cancers showed better survival for the combination therapy group.
During the median follow-up of 221 days for the sorafenib-TACE group, 164 of 426 patients (39%) died. That compared to 916 of 1686 patients (54%) who died in the sorafenib-alone group followed for a median of 133 days.
In terms of overall survival 53.5% of the sorafenib-TACE group survived one-year compared to 32.4% of the sorafenib-alone group.
Lead researcher Dr Victor Kok of Department of Internal Medicine, Kuang Tien General Hospital commented on the results.
"Real-world data for this treatment combination is long overdue, and here we aimed to provide empirical evidence on whether sorafenib+TACE is actually more effective than sorafenib alone," Kok said in a press release. "Our work can fuel further research aimed at understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying any synergistic effects of sorafenib and TACE."
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