Transcatheter hepatic arterial chemoembolization and thymosin alpha1 in postoperative treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma / 中华肿瘤杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the effect of postoperative transcatheter hepatic arterial chemoembolization (TACE) and thymosin alpha(1) (T(alpha1)) treatment on recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>From Jan 2000 to Dec 2002, 57 patients with HCC were randomly divided into three groups group A (n = 18) received hepatectomy plus postoperative TACE and T(alpha1), group B (n = 23) received hepatectomy plus postoperative TACE and group C (n = 16) received hepatectomy only. The recurrence rate, the time to tumor recurrence and the median survival for the three groups were investigated.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>For group A, B and C, the 1 year recurrence rate was 83.3%, 87.0% and 87.5% (P = 0.926), respectively. The time to tumor recurrence was 7.0, 5.0 and 4.0 months (P = 0.039), respectively. The median survival was 10.0, 7.0 and 8.0 months (P = 0.002), respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Postoperative TACE plus Talpha(1) treatment for HCC patients does not decrease the recurrence rate but may delay its occurrence and prolong surviving time.</p>