The suppressing effects of VEGF-mediated angiogenesis at different administration sequences of apatinib and transarterial embolization in vivo

Liver cancer is one of the most common malignancies with bad prognosis, and it is also the second most lethal tumor after pancreatic cancer (1,2). In 2017, there were approximately 854,000 new cases with liver cancer and 810,000 cases of deaths worldwide. More than half of the total number of cases and deaths were accounted in China alone (3). Transarterial embolization (TAE) and transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) are two widely used locoregional therapies for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (4,5) and are recommended as first-line therapies for patients with intermediate-stage HCC in the guidelines (3). TAE induces marked ischemic tumor necrosis by obstructing tumor-feeding arteries. Nevertheless, there are a significant number of HCC patients (50–86%) with residual viable tumors (6), and tumor angiogenesis plays a great role in them