Objective To evaluate the treatment effect and security of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization(TACE)combined with sorafinib for intermediate-advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.Methods From July 2008 to November 2010,the treatment effects of two groups of patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma were retrospectively analyzed and compared,including 44 patients treated by sorafenib combined with TACE(test group)and the other 44 patients treated only with TACE(control group).To assess the treatment effect based on mRECIST,the time for patients' tumor progression(TTP),overall survival(OS)time and adverse events were recorded.Survival rate were analyzed using KaplanMeier method and Log-rank analysis in SPSS 18.0.Results Till January 2011,24 patients(54.5％)survived and 20 patients(include patients lost to visit)died(45.5％)among the test group,13 patients survived(29.5 ％)and 31 patients(include patients lost to visit)died(70.5 ％)among the control group.No complete remission condition was observed in all patients.Among the test group,1 patient got partial remission,24 ones remain stable and 19 patients got progression.While among the control group,conditions remained stable in 21 patients and progressed in rest 23 ones.The disease control rate(DCR)in the test group and control group were 56.8％(25/44)and 47.7％(21/44)respectively,with no statistical significance(x2 =0.729,P =0.393).The median overall survival time(mOS)of test group and control group were 21.0(95 ％ CI:14.9-27.1)months and 10.0(95 ％ CI:6.4-13.6)months respectively,and the difference reached statistical significance(x2 =7.436,P =0.006).The median time to tumor progression(mTTP)of test group and control group was 1 1.0(95％ CI:8.7-13.3)and 6.0(95％ CI:3.9-8.1)months respectively,and the difference had statistical significance(x2 =10.437,P =0.001).The adverse events of test group mainly included hand-foot skin reaction,loss of appetite,fever,fatigue and diarrhea.The adverse events of control group mainly included fever,loss of appetite,nausea,vomiting and fatigue.The incidences of hand-foot skin reaction,baldness,diarrhea were significantly higher in test group than those in the control group(P ＜0.05).In most patients,these side effects were mild-to-moderate,and alleviated remarkablely after symptomatic treatment.Conclusions Compared with TACE alone,TACE combined with sorafenib can prolong the OS and TTP significantly for the patients with intermediate-advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.However,the DCR of the two groups has no statistical significance.