Radiotherapy combined with apatinib exhibits synergistic anti-tumor effect, while the application of simultaneous integrated boost intensity modulated radiotherapy (SIB-IMRT) combined with apatinib in HCC patients is scarce. Hence, this study aimed to explore the treatment response, survival, and safety profile of the SIB-IMRT combined with apatinib in unresectable HCC (uHCC) patients.

A total of 19 uHCC patients with deficient response to transarterial chemoembolization (TACE), who scheduled for SIB-IMRT combined with apatinib treatment were enrolled. The SIB-IMRT was applied at the following dose: 95% planning target volume (PTV) at 30–50 Gy/2–2.5 Gy/15–20f and 90% Boost of 45–72 Gy/3–4.5 Gy/15–20f at 5 times per week with cone beam computerized tomography validation. During and after radiotherapy, the apatinib was administrated orally with the initial dose of 500 mg per day.

The complete response, partial response, stable disease, and progressive disease rates were 31.6%, 36.8%, 21.1% and 10.5%, respectively. Consequently, the objective response rate and disease control rate were 68.4% and 89.5%, respectively. During a median follow-up duration of 9.0 months, the median progression-free survival (PFS) was 6.0 (95% confidential interval (CI): 4.9–7.1) months with 1-year PFS rate of 42.1%; the median overall survival (OS) was not reached with 1-year OS rate of 54.6%. The safety profile was acceptable with the most common adverse events including myelosuppression (42.1%), skin reaction (36.8%), and albuminuria (26.3%).

SIB-IMRT combined with apatinib exhibits a good efficacy and tolerable safety profile, which could be considered as a potential treatment choice for uHCC patients who have deficient response to TACE.