The effect of high intensity focused ultrasound on the immunity of patient with hepatocellular carcinoma / 中国普通外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the changes of immunity in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated by high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU). Methods HIFU system was used to treat 21 patients with mid-advanced HCC. The blood tests of cellular and humoral immunity related indexes were made before and on the 3rd, 7th, 14th, 21st day following the sonication. The histological changes of the target lesions were observed by light and electron microscope for the cases undergoing second stage operation. Results Light and electron microscope all revealed that HIFU could lead to irreversible changes in the tumor cells of the target lesions. There were not significant differences between the values of CD 3, CD 4, CD 8, CD 16, IgG, IgA, IgM,etc. before and after the ablation. Conclusions HIFU could destroy the tissues of HCC effectively. HIFU could not change the immunity of the patients with mid-advanced HCC remarkably. It may be ideal to unite immunotherapy and the other methods to get a sound clinical prognosis for HCC patients.