The aim of this study was to compare the immune function of patients with cervical cancer and the cancer recurrence rate in patients treated with biological immune therapy combined with chemotherapy or with chemotherapy only. A total of 79 postoperative patients with cervical cancer participated in the present study. They were randomly divided into a control group and an experimental group. Patients in the control group were treated with cisplatin chemotherapy. Patients in the experimental group were treated with dendritic cell-cytokine-induced killer (DC-CIK) cells combined with cisplatin chemotherapy. The CD3(+), CD4(+), CD8(+), CD16(+), CD56(+) and CD4(+)CD25(+) cell ratios in peripheral blood, and the expression levels of perforin, granzyme B (GraB) and CD107a of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in all patients prior to and following treatment were observed. The changes of immune function and recurrence rate between these two groups prior to and following treatment were compared. Prior to treatment, the lymphocyte ratio had no significant difference between the two groups (P>0.05). Following treatment, the lymphocyte ratio in the experimental group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P<0.05). The positive expression levels of perforin, GraB and CD107a of PBMCs in the experimental group following treatment were significantly higher than those prior to treatment and those of the control group (P<0.05). The cumulative recurrence rate in the experimental group was significantly lower than that in the control group (P<0.05). In conclusion, in postoperative patients with cervical cancer, treatment with DC-CIK cells combined with cisplatin chemotherapy significantly improved the immune function, reduced the recurrence rate and prolonged the survival time of the patients.