Abstract: Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of TACE combined with apatinib in the treatment of advanced liver cancer.Methods A randomized controlled trial (RCT) was conducted on a computer from the establishment of the library to May 2019 for the study of TACE combined with apatinib and single TACE in the treatment of advanced liver cancer. The main search databases include Sciencedirect, Pubmed, Embase, and Cork. Lan Library, Wanfang Database, China Biomedical Literature Database, Chinese Science and Technology Periodical Database. Data extraction and literature quality assessment were performed according to the Cochrane systematic review method. Finally, the data was analyzed using Revman 5.3 software.Results After the search and analysis, there were 6 RCTs enrolled in a total of 308 patients. The Objective response rate (ORR) of these patients was 43.31% and 23.38%, respectively. The difference was statistically significant (P<0.000 01), the disease control rate (DCR) of TACE+apatinib group and TACE group were 78.95%, 52.60%, the former was significantly higher than the latter, P=0.02; and the TACE+apatinib group had higher Half-year, one-year, and two-year survival rates; Adverse reactions in the apatinib combination group were significantly higher than those in the TACE group alone. The adverse reactions were mainly hypertension, fever, proteinuria, etc., improved after symptomatic treatment, with no other serious adverse reactions.Conclusion According to the analysis, the clinical efficacy and safety of apatinib combined with TACE in the treatment of advanced liver cancer are obvious.

Key words: Transcatheter hepatic arterial chemoembolization, Apatinib, Advanced liver cancer, Efficacy, Safety, Meta-analysis