{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T06:01:38Z","timestamp":1785391298347,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":27,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785369600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["No. 82302332, No. 82272100"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["No. 82302332, No. 82272100"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Immunol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>To evaluate if transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) combined with Icaritin provides additional survival benefits compared to TACE alone in intermediate-to-advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) across different Child-Pugh classes.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>TACE is a standard locoregional therapy for intermediate-to-advanced HCC, yet monotherapy yields limited long-term survival. Icaritin, an immunomodulator, demonstrates survival benefits in advanced HCC with a favorable safety profile lacking severe hepatotoxicity or bone marrow suppression.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This multicenter retrospective cohort study included patients with Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage B and C HCC. Propensity score matching (PSM) was utilized to balance baseline covariates between the TACE with Icaritin and TACE alone groups. The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Following PSM, 250 patients were evaluated. In the Child-Pugh grade A group, TACE combined with Icaritin was associated with longer median OS than TACE alone (28.8 vs. 15.7 months; HR, 0.42; 95% CI, 0.29-0.62; P&amp;lt;0.001). Median PFS was also longer in the combination group (9.7 vs. 8.1 months; HR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.49-0.90; P\u00a0=\u00a00.007). In Child-Pugh subgroup analyses, the treatment effect was most consistent in patients with Child-Pugh grade A liver function. In Child-Pugh grade B patients, OS favored the combination therapy, whereas the PFS result was not statistically definitive. ORR (49.6% vs. 47.2%) and DCR (83.2% vs. 74.4%) were comparable. The combination regimen did not significantly increase grade 3\u20134 liver function-related adverse events.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>TACE combined with Icaritin was associated with improved survival outcomes, with the most consistent benefit observed in patients with Child-Pugh grade A liver function. In Child-Pugh grade B patients, the findings should be interpreted cautiously because of the limited subgroup size and insufficient statistical power.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fimmu.2026.1876151","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T05:41:14Z","timestamp":1785390074000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Efficacy analysis of icaritin combined with transarterial chemoembolization in hepatocellular carcinoma stratified by different child-pugh classes"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Jingxuan","family":"Xu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiology, Dongyang Hospital Affiliated to Wenzhou Medical University","place":["Dongyang, Zhejiang, 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