Objective To study the expression of nuclear transcription faetor-KB(NF-κB)and nm23-H1 protein in hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)and its relationship with clinical pathologic features.Methods The expression of NF-κB and nm23-H1 in 41 cases of HCC were examined by immunohistochemical technique.The corresponding cancerous adjacent tissue or cirrhosis tissue(10 cases)and normal liver tissue (11 cases)collected from specimens of benign liver hemangioma were served as a control group.Results NF-κB protein was detected in 68.3%(28/41)cases of HCC tissues compared with 12.2%(5/41)in noncancerous adjacent tissues,1/10 cases in liver cirrhosis,0/11 cases in normal liver tissues(P＜0.01).NF-κB expression has no correlation with clinical pathological feature of HCC patients fourteen cases of 41 HCC tissues were found nm23-H1 protein positive staining,compared with 27 cases negative staining;negative expression of nm23-H1 protein correlates closely with portal vein invasion and serosal infiltration(χ2=4.16χ2=4.19,P＜0.05),and its negative expression correlates well with survivin expression(χ2=20.25,P＜0.01).Conclusion High expression of NF-κB protein in HCC tissues suggests that it probably played an important role in the origin and development of HCC,and it may be as targets for gene therapy.Negative expression of nm23-H1 protein correlates with malignant biological feature of HCC,and probably suggests poor prognosis.