Clinical research on treatment of advanced primary liver cancer with combination of thymosin [alpha]1 and arsenic trioxide

A total of 59 patients with advanced PLC who were admitted to Jiangyan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine from July 2011 to July 2014 were divided into two groups: control group and combination therapy group. The two groups were given symptomatic and supportive treatment to protect the liver. In addition, 29 cases in the control group were treated with arsenic trioxide, while 30 cases in the combination therapy group were administrated with thymosin al combined with arsenic trioxide. The levels of alpha fetal protein, carcinoembryonic antigen, carbohydrate antigen 199, and gamma glutamyl transpeptidase decreased in both groups, and the combination therapy group had significantly higher decreases in these indices than the control group (P < 0.05). The combination therapy group had significantly increased percentages of CD3 super(+) and CD4 super(+) T cells and CD4 super(+)/CD8 super(+) ratio (P < 0.05) and a significantly reduced percentage of CD8 super(+) T cells (P < 0.01) after treatment.