Abstract
Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the safety and short-term efficacy of irreversible electroporation (IRE) combined with allogenic natural killer (NK) cell immunotherapy in the treatment of patients with unresectable primary liver cancer. Materials and methods: Between October 2015 and December 2016, 40 patients were enrolled and randomly allocated to either the IRE group (n = 22) or the IRE-NK group (n = 18). All adverse events experienced by the patients were recorded; the changes in tumor biomarkers [AFP, CA 19-9, circulating tumor cells (CTCs)], lymphocyte number and function, quality of life, clinical response, progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were assessed. Results: Patients who received combination therapy exhibited significantly longer median PFS and OS than who just received IRE (PFS 15.1 vs. 10.6 months, P < 0.05, OS 17.9 vs. 23.2 months, P < 0.05). The combination therapy of IRE and NK cell immunotherapy significantly reduced CTCs and increased immune function and Karnofsky performance status. Conclusion: Our data suggest a novel, promising combination therapy using IRE and allogenic NK cell immunotherapy. Larger clinical trials are required to confirm these conclusions.