CECT Features of MVI Predict Response to TACE Plus TKI in Intermediate-stage HCC

March 3, 2026 updated by: Wenzhe Fan, First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University

Contrast-enhanced Computed Tomography Features of Microvascular Invasion Predict Response to Transarterial Chemoembolization Plus Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor in Intermediate-stage Hepatocellular Carcinoma

This retrospective multicenter study aims to evaluate whether radiographic microvascular invasion (MVI) status can predict treatment response in patients with intermediate-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) receiving transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) combined with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) versus TACE alone.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Patients who received TACE plus TKIs were compared with those who received TACE alone. Radiographic MVI status was assessed using CT-based radiomics features. The primary outcome is overall survival. Secondary outcomes include time to progression, objective response rate, and safety. The study seeks to determine whether radiographic MVI can serve as a predictive marker to guide the selection of patients who may benefit from combination therapy.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
324

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • China
    • Guangdong
      • Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, 510080
        • The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Patients with intermediate-stage HCC treated with TACE with/without TKI

Description

Inclusion Criteria:(1) age 18-75 years; (2) primary intermediate-stage HCC diagnosed according to the European Association for the Study of the Liver/American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases criteria; (3) pretreatment CECT showing two to three lesions, with at least one >3 cm, or more than three lesions of any size, without macrovascular invasion or extrahepatic metastasis; all lesions measurable per the modified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (mRECIST) criteria; (4) Child¬-Pugh class A or B; (5) Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status score of 0; (6) adequate hematologic and renal function (neutrophils ≥1.5×109/L, platelets ≥50×109/L, hemoglobin ≥90 g/L, serum albumin ≥30 g/L, total bilirubin ≤50 µmol/L, creatinine <1.5× upper limit of normal); and (7) first-line local treatment with TACE, with or without sorafenib or lenvatinib.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Group / Cohort

A group or subgroup of participants in an observational study that is assessed for biomedical or health outcomes.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
TACE group
Patients with intermediate-stage hepatocellular carcinoma who received TACE monotherapy. TACE procedures included conventional TACE and drug-eluting bead TACE, performed by experienced interventional radiologists. Conventional TACE involved infusion of a solution containing doxorubicin (75 mg) or epirubicin (50 mg) mixed with lipiodol, followed by embolization with gelatin sponge or polyvinyl alcohol foam particles. Drug-eluting bead TACE used DC Bead or Calispheres microspheres (100-300 or 300-500 μm) loaded with doxorubicin (75 mg) or epirubicin (50 mg). The endpoint of primary chemoembolization was complete HCC devascularization as observed on angiograms.
Procedure: TACE
TACE procedures included conventional TACE and drug-eluting bead TACE, performed by experienced interventional radiologists. Conventional TACE involved infusion of a solution containing doxorubicin (75 mg) or epirubicin (50 mg) mixed with lipiodol, followed by embolization with gelatin sponge or polyvinyl alcohol foam particles. Drug-eluting bead TACE used DC Bead or Calispheres microspheres (100-300 or 300-500 μm) loaded with doxorubicin (75 mg) or epirubicin (50 mg).
TACE-TKI group
Patients with intermediate-stage hepatocellular carcinoma who received transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) combined with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). TACE procedures included conventional TACE and drug-eluting bead TACE, performed by experienced interventional radiologists. Conventional TACE involved infusion of a solution containing doxorubicin (75 mg) or epirubicin (50 mg) mixed with lipiodol, followed by embolization with gelatin sponge or polyvinyl alcohol foam particles. Drug-eluting bead TACE used DC Bead or Calispheres microspheres (100-300 or 300-500 μm) loaded with doxorubicin (75 mg) or epirubicin (50 mg). TKI treatment included sorafenib (administered orally 400 mg twice daily) or lenvatinib (administered orally 8 mg/day for patients <60 kg or 12 mg/day for patients ≥60 kg), with dose adjustments or interruptions based on treatment-related toxicities.
Procedure: TACE
TACE procedures included conventional TACE and drug-eluting bead TACE, performed by experienced interventional radiologists. Conventional TACE involved infusion of a solution containing doxorubicin (75 mg) or epirubicin (50 mg) mixed with lipiodol, followed by embolization with gelatin sponge or polyvinyl alcohol foam particles. Drug-eluting bead TACE used DC Bead or Calispheres microspheres (100-300 or 300-500 μm) loaded with doxorubicin (75 mg) or epirubicin (50 mg).
Drug: TKI
tyrosine kinase TKI treatment included sorafenib (administered orally 400 mg twice daily) or lenvatinib (administered orally 8 mg/day for patients <60 kg or 12 mg/day for patients ≥60 kg), with dose adjustments or interruptions based on treatment-related toxicities.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Overall survival
Time Frame: From date of initial treatment until the date of death from any cause, whichever came first, assessed up to 24 months
Time interval from date of initial treatment until the date of death from any cause, whichever came first, assessed up to 24 months
From date of initial treatment until the date of death from any cause, whichever came first, assessed up to 24 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Tumor response
Time Frame: From date of initial treatment until the date of first documented progression or date of death from any cause, whichever came first, assessed up to 24 months
Defined as the proportion of patients achieving complete response (CR), partial response (PR), stable disease (SD) or progressive disease (PD) according to mRECIST criteria.
From date of initial treatment until the date of first documented progression or date of death from any cause, whichever came first, assessed up to 24 months
Progression-free survival
Time Frame: From date of initial treatment until the date of first documented progression or date of death from any cause, whichever came first, assessed up to 24 months
Time interval from date of initial treatment until the date of first documented progression or date of death from any cause, whichever came first, assessed up to 24 months
From date of initial treatment until the date of first documented progression or date of death from any cause, whichever came first, assessed up to 24 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
June 1, 2018

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
October 31, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
October 31, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
February 1, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
March 3, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
March 4, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
March 4, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
March 3, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • [2024]504

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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