Objective: To probe the relationship between survival period and immune function of hepatic carcinoma patients after embolism chemotherapy.
Methods: One hundred and eight patients of hepatocarcinoma were randomly divided into three groups. Group A was given simple embolism chemotherapy (ECT), immunotherapy and Chinese herbal medicine were given to Group B and C respectively after ECT.
Results: The short-term effective rate of Group A, B and C was 61.1%, 83.3% and 80.6% respectively, three-year survival rate 28.6%, 39.1% and 47.3%, median length of survival 11, 17 and 15 months respectively. The difference in terms of these indices were significant. Observation on immune function after treatment showed that patients received ECT alone had a lower immunity than those supplemented with immunotherapy or Chinese herbal medicine.
Conclusions: Period of survival of hepatocarcinoma patients is related with their immune function. Patients with better immunity could enjoy a relatively extended period of survival.