Objective To evaluate the role of differentially expressed genes in human prostate carcinoma initiation and progression. Methods cDNA microarray chips which consist of a set of 4366 human genes were used to investigate the gene expression pattern of samples from human prostate cancer and normal prostate tissues. Results Of 4366 genes,287 genes differentially expressed in prostate carcinoma and normal prostate tissues were screened out,including 165 unknown genes and 122 known genes. Among the 122 known genes we further identified 20 up-regulated and 36 down-regulated genes. Conclusions Our results suggest that significantly differential expression of genes may be associated with the pathogenesis and progression of the prostate cancer.