The DPR in the combined-treatment cohort is not greater than that in the sorafenib monotherapy cohort, which may be consistent with the outright opposite effects of expressing the hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) and VEGF in patients with advanced HCC undergoing TACE and in those after treatment with sorafenib. This evidence concerns the gene VEGFA and hepatocellular carcinoma.