Addition of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization decreased local recurrence but had no survival benefit to percutaneous ethanol injection therapy for patients with small hepatocellular carcinoma: A multicenter randomized control study.

To assess the efficacy of the additional treatment of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) to percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI) therapy for relatively small hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs), a multicenter randomized control study (RCT) was performed. We conducted an RCT and follow-up study during the enrollment period from 1997 to 1999. Newly diagnosed patients with one to three HCC tumors measuring from 2 to 4 cm (4 cm maximum) in diameter were enrolled.