TACE+RFA Versus TACE Alone for Intermediate-stage Hepatocellular Carcinoma

The current standard treatment for intermediate-stage HCC (BCLC stage B) is transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) alone.The combination of TACE with RFA has also reported to be an effective treatment for HCC. Some prospective studies have shown TACE combined RFA to have better efficacy than any of them alone for early stage HCC (single tuomor ≤5 cm). However, to the investigators' knowledge, there have not been any prospective studies to assess whether TACE combined sequentially with RFA is more effective than TACE alone for the treatment of intermediate-stage HCC. The investigators hypothesized that the combination of TACE and RFA might result in better patient survival than TACE alone. Thus, the purpose of this study was to prospectively compare the effects of sequential TACE-RFA with TACE alone for the treatment of intermediate-stage HCC. Intermediate-stage HCC in this study was defined as 2-3 intrahepatic lessions, largest tumor size 3-7 cm or 4-10 intrahepatic lessions, largest tumor size ≤7 cm; ECOG-PS 0;Child-pugh A or B;no tumor thrombus or extrahepatic metastases.