Abstract: Objectiv To investigate the protective effect of reduced glutathione （GSH） on liver function in patients with advanced primary liver cancer （PLC） underwent transarterial chemoembolization （TACE）. Methods 138 patients with PLC were recruited in our hospital between February 2010 and July 2014,and were randomly divided into the observation group （n=71） and the control group （n=67）. All patients with PLC received TACE, and those in the observation were treated intravenously with GSH for seven days after TACE. Results At the end of three months,the CT scan showed that the partial response （PR） and stable disease （SD） in the observation group were 23.9% and 60.6%,without significant differences as compared to 20.9% and 58.2%,respectively in the control （P>0.05）;at the end of 10 days,serum ALT and AST levels in the observation were （75.4±18.9）U/L and （101.6±18.4） U/L,significantly lower than 【（98.6±20.4） U/L and （121.2±30.4） U/L,respectively,P<0.05】 in the control;at the end of 2 weeks,the incidences of gastrointestinal reactions,leukopenia,decreased blood hemoglobin levels,and thrombocytopenia in the observation group were 26.8%,22.5%,19.7% and 2.8% respectively,while they were 32.8% （P<0.05）,28.4%,29.9% （P<0.05） and 6.0% in the control;the six-month survival rate in the observation group was 91.5%（65/71）,without significant difference as compared to 85.1%（57/67,P>0.05） in the control and one-year survival rate in the observation group was 84.5%（60/71）,much higher than （61.2% （41/67,P<0.05） in the control group. Conclusion Application of reduced glutathione after TACE in patients with primary liver cancer might alleviate liver function injuries,and decrease the incidence of side effects in this settings.

Key words: Hepatoma, Transarterial chemoembolization, Reduced glutathione, Side effect