Abstract: Objective To investigate the therapeutic effects of transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) combined with carrelizumab on advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods The study involved 108 patients with advanced HCC treated at our hospital from January 2020 to October 2022. Patients were randomly divided into two groups, with 54 patients in each group. The control group was treated with TACE alone, whereas the observation group received a combination treatment of TACE and carrelizumab. The clinical efficacy, immune function, tumor marker levels, and liver function were compared between the two groups at three months post-treatment. Adverse reactions happened during treatment were also recorded. All patients were followed up for two years to document OS and overall survival rates. Results The overall effective treatment rate for the observation group and the control group was 70.37% (38/54) and 50.00% (27/54), respectively (P<0.05). The contents of CD3⁺, CD4⁺, and CD8⁺ cells were (39.21±5.13)%, (27.21±4.04)%, and (18.74±2.35)%, respectively, indicating better improvements in immune and liver function (P<0.05). The incidence of adverse reactions was 24.07% in the observation group and 27.78% in the control group (P>0.05). The OS in the observation group was 21.46 (20.34, 22.59) months, with a survival rate of 66.67% (36/54), both significantly higher than those in the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion TACE combined with carrelizumab can enhance the clinical efficacy in advanced HCC, improve immune and liver function, and subsequently increase survival rates.

Key words: Transarterial Chemoembolization, Carrelizumab, Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Clinical Efficacy, Immune Function