ObjectiveTo investigate the short-term curative efficacy of DC-CIK in comprehensive therapy of esophagus cancer. MethodsWe randomly allocated 52 patients with esophagus cancer who had preoperatively confirmed by CT on stage Ⅱ-Ⅲ B into an observation group and a control group with 26 patients in each group. There were 14 male and 12 female patients in the observation group at median age of 60 years (range:49-67 years). There were 16 male and 10 female patients in the control group with median age of 62 years (range:48-65 years).The control group received postoperative chemotherapy, and the observation group received postoperative chemotherapy combined with DC-CIK biotherapy. The combination of paclitaxel and cisplatin for four cycles was choosen as the chemotherapy regimen. Patients in the observation group were treated with DC-CIK biotherapy for 2 weeks after operation. At the fifth week they received the first cycle of chemotherapy. There was a course of biotherapy between two cycles of chemotherapy. The clinical efficacy, lymphocyte subtypes, and intracellular cytokines in peripheral blood of the patients, performance status (KPS) and adverse reactions were compared. ResultsAll patients completed the therapy regimen successfully. In the observation group, the ratios of CD3+, CD4+, CD4+/CD8+, CD56+, and CD19+ increased, and the ratio of CD8+ decreased with significant differences (P<0.05).The biotherapy significantly increased interleukin 2 (IL-2), IL-12, interferon gamma (IFN-γ) and tumor necrosis fator (TNF)-α level (P<0.05). However, in the control group, there was no significant difference between post and pre-therapy in the levels of lymphocytes and cytokines. The effective rate of KPS was 76.92% in the observation group and 46.15% in the control group with a significant difference (P=0.023). No other adverse reactions except 3 patients with fever in the observation group were found. ConclusionThe short-term curative efficacy of DC-CIK in comprehensive therapy of esophagus cancer is distinct. DC-CIK biotherapy can improve patients' immune functions and elevate their life quality, so it is likely to be an effective adoptive immunotherapy for esophagus cancer.