The effect of TACE in combination with thalidomide-mediated adjuvant therapy on the levels of VEGF and bFGF in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

OBJECTIVE To investigate the efficacy of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) combined with thalidomide-mediated adjuvant therapy on the expression levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. METHODS A prospective study was designed, by which 134 HCC patients from our hospital who underwent treatment were selected and randomly divided into an observation group and a control group, 67 participants per group. The control group was administered hepatic TACE, while the observation group was given TACE in combination with thalidomide. The total disease control rate (DCR) and the rate of adverse effects were analyzed and compared between the two groups of patients. The expression levels of CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, CD4+/CD8+, VEGF, VEGFA, and bFGF were measured between the two groups before and after treatment. The overall survival rate of the two groups were also compared after a follow-up for 3 years. RESULTS The rate of adverse effects and DCR in the control group were 44.78% and 61.19%, respectively, whereas these rates were 22.39% and 89.55% in the observation group, respectively. Of note, the differences in terms of the rate of adverse effects and DCR were statistically significant between the two groups (P 0.05). After treatment, the expression levels of CD3+, CD4+, and CD4+/CD8+ were significantly upregulated in the two groups, while the levels of CD8+, VEGF, VEGFA, and bFGF were considerably downregulated (P<0.05). In addition, compared with the control group, the expression levels of CD3+, CD4+, and CD4+/CD8+ were significantly higher, whereas the levels of CD8+, VEGF, VEGFA, and bFGF were notably lower in the observation group (P<0.05). After the follow-up for 3 years, the overall survival rate of the observation group was significantly higher in comparison to the control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION TACE in combination with thalidomide-mediated adjuvant treatment has revealed a promising clinical outcome on HCC patients by downregulating the levels of VEGF and bFGF.