Abstract:Objective To explore the effect of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) combined with Licartin on pathological indicators and number of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in liver cancer patients. Methods Totally 120 cases of primary liver cancer patients treated in our hospital from January 2014 to June 2016 were enrolled as research objects. They were divided into experimental group and control group according to treatment. The 52 cases in the control group were treated with TACE and the 68 cases in the experimental group were treated with Licartin and TACE. The tumor size, AFP level, blood routine, liver function, number of CTCs and number of CTCs in patients with different molecular phenotypes of CD147 were compared before and after treatment between the two groups. Results After treatment, the tumor size of the two groups had no significant difference (P > 0.05). After treatment, the AFP level significantly decreased in both groups, and was significantly lower in the experimental group than in the control group (P < 0.05). After treatment, the platelet count in the experimental group was significantly lower than that in the control group and alanine aminotransferase was significantly higher than that in the control group (P < 0.05). After treatment, the number of CTCs detected in the two groups was significantly decreased, and the number of CTCs in the experimental group was significantly smaller than that in the control group (P < 0.05). The changes of the number of CTCs before and after treatment had significant difference between the patients with two different CD147 phenotypes in the experimental group (P < 0.05), while there was no significant difference in the control group (P > 0.05). There were no statistical differences in the incidences of adverse reactions between the two groups (P > 0.05). Conclusions For the treatment of liver cancer patients, Licartin combined with TACE has better clinical effect than TACE treatment. Licartin would be suggested for CD147+ HCC patients, but not for CD147- patients.