Abstract: Objective To investigate the efficacy of ultrasound-guided percutaneous microwave ablation and thymosin α-1 treatment in patients with primary liver cancer （PLC）. Methods A total of 104 patients with PLC were admitted to our hospital between March 2011 and March 2013 and they were randomly divided into observation group（n=52） and control group（n=52）. The patients in control group were treated with ultrasound-guided percutaneous microwave ablation,and the ones in observation group were given subcutaneously with thymosin-α1. Results At the end of 4 week treatment,the CD3⁺ and CD4⁺ cells and the ratio of CD4⁺/CD8⁺ were 71.49±6.57%,43.12±2.89% and 15.89±3.24,significantly higher than 43.21±3.74%,24.56±2.36% and 5.42±2.13 in the control（P<0.05）;the liver function index and serum alpha-fetoprotein levels in the observation group improved or decreased significantly than in the control（P<0.05）;the complication occurrence in the observation group was 7.7%,not statistically significantly different with 11.5% in the control（P>0.05）;all patients were followed-up for 3 years,and the recurrence and metastasis in the observation group were 30.8% and 15.4%,much lower than 50.0% and 32.7% in the control（P<0.05）;the 3 a survival rate in the observation group was 23.1% （12/52）,much higher than 5.8% （3/52,P<0.05） in the control group. Conclusion Ultrasound-guided percutaneous microwave ablation followed by thymosin-α1 injection in the treatment of patients with PLC is efficient, with lower recurrence and metastasis and prolongation of survival,which warrants further investigation.

Key words: Hepatoma, Percutaneous microwave ablation, Thymosin-α1, Efficacy, Recurrence