Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is the principal therapy for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, its efficacy is currently limited owing to tumor progression or treatment failure. It has been shown that aspirin reduces the incidence of multiple malignant tumors including HCC and plays a synergistic role with chemotherapy in the treatment of colon cancer. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the adjuvant effect of aspirin on patients with unresectable HCC who underwent TACE therapy. A retrospective matched-pairs analysis was performed to evaluate the efficacy of aspirin in combination with TACE therapy. A total of 120 patients with HCC, including 60 patients treated with aspirin for treatment of cardiovascular disease, transient ischemic attack, and arthritis, and 60 paired matching HCC patients without aspirin treatment in the same period, were enrolled. Compared with non-aspirin users, patients treated with aspirin showed improved OS (P = 0.050). Specifically, patients treated with a full dose of aspirin showed prolonged OS (P = 0.027), which was an independent factor associated with OS in multivariate analysis (hazard ratio 0.498, 95% confidence interval 0.280-0.888, P = 0.018). Aspirin in combination with TACE might improve OS in patients with unresectable HCC. Thus, the impact of aspirin on patients with HCC warrants further investigation prospectively.
Keywords: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); aspirin; overall survival (OS); transarterial chemoembolization (TACE).