Abstract:Objective：To investigate the changes and significance of dendritic cells (DCs) in hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC） tissue and peripheral blood after transcatheter arterial chemoembolization （TACE）.
Methods ：Surgical specimens were obtained from 17 HCC patients who had been treated by operation after TACE and 30 patients operated on without TACE. The infiltration of DCs in HCC tissue was measured by immunohistochemistry method. Peripheral blood was obtained from 37 patients with HCC treated by TACE. The blood was obtained on the day before TACE, the first day , the 7th day and the 15th day after TACE respectively. The counts of DCs in peripheral blood were quantified by flow cytometry.
Results：The infiltration of DCs in HCC tissue which had been treated by oparation after TACE was lower than that of the groap not treated by TACE(P<0.05). On the 7th and 15th day after TACE, the counts of DCs in peripheral blood decreased significantly (P<0.05).
Conclusions：After TACE, the infiltration of DCs in HCC tissue decreased, and the counts of DCs in blood were also decreased. This could be one of the reasons why HCC can recurr and metastasize easily after TACE.