Abstract: Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of cytokine-induced killer cells （CIK） combined with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization （TACE） for the treatment of patients with primary liver cancer （PLC）. Methods A total of 60 patients with PLC were enrolled in our hospital between January 2012 and December 2013. The patients were divided into two groups，and 30 patients were treated with TACE plus CIK，and another 30 were treated with TACE alone. The CIKs was obtained from autonomous peripheral blood or from healthy umbilical cord blood，and the cell suspensions were given 10 to 15 days after TACE with 1.0×109 cells each， once a day or once two days for three times. Results Serum fetoprotein level was（87.27±29.45） ng/ml in combination group six months after treatment，significantly lower than（158.78±99.09） ng/ml in TACE group（P＜0.05）；the tumor size was（4.37±1.78）cm in combination group，much smaller than [（5.48±1.61）cm，P＜0.05] in TACE group；the 2 a survival rate in combination group was 53.3%，much higher than 33.3% in TACE group （P＜0.05）. Conclusion CIKs treatment after TACE is an alternative approaches for patients with advanced liver cancer， which might prolong patients’ survival.

Key words: Primary liver cancer, Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization, Cytokine-induced killer cells, Therapy