Abstract: Objective The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of microwave ablation (MWA) and anti-programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1) antibody therapy in patients with primary liver cancer (PLC). Methods A total of 102 patients with PLC were encountered in our hospital between June 2019 and December 2020, and were randomly divided into control (n=51) and observation group (n=51), receiving MWA or sintilimab immediately after MWA for six months. The quality of life was evaluated by 36-item shot-form health status survey (SF-36). The peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets was analyzed by FCM. All patients after therapy was followed-up for one year. Results The objective remission rate (ORR) in the observation group was much higher than in the control group (51.% vs. 29.4%, P<0.05); at the end of six-month therapy, the physical function, physiological role, body pain, overall health, energy, social function, role limitation and mental health scores in the observation were significantly higher than in the control(P<0.05); the percentage of peripheral blood CD4⁺ cells and the CD4⁺/CD8⁺ cell ratio in the observation were much higher than in the control (P<0.05), while the percentage of CD4⁺CD25⁺FOXP3⁺Treg cells and CD8⁺ cells were much lower than in the control (P<0.05); the Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that the median progression-free survival (PFS) in the observation group was 9.7(95%CI:7.971-11.429)mon, much longer than 7.8(95%CI:5.931-9.729)mon, and the one-year survival rate was 58.8%, also much higher than 37.3%(P<0.05)in the control group. Conclusion The administration of sintilimab immediately after MWA in treatment of patients with PLC is efficacious, which might be related to modulation of disturbed immune functions.

Key words: Hepatoma, Microwave ablation, Programmed death receptor-1, Therapy