Sorafenib with or without concurrent transarterial chemoembolization in hepatocellular carcinoma: a cautionary comment of STAH trial

Conventional transarterial chemoembolization (cTACE) and sorafenib are the standard monotherapy for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage B or C by Western official guidelines (1,2). Many large randomized controlled trials have shown these two monotherapies to extend median overall survival over the best supportive care in such patients. cTACE would induce the upregulation of angiogenic factors by ischemic liver injury.