Objective To study the significance of expression of Cyclin E in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods Cyclin E expressions were examined in 45 specimens of HCC and 30 specimens of paracancer tissues, and the relationship between Cyclin E with the clinico-pathological parameters was determined.Among the 45 patients ,19 were poor encapsulatic; 12 patients had portal vein thrombus; 11 had extrahepatic metastasis;12 had intrahepatic metastasis.Any patient had one or more of 4 conditions mentioned above was considered as invasion and metastasis. Results The overexpression of Cyclin E in HCC tissues was seen in 16 cases (35.6%) ,but not seen in paracancer tissues. Cyclin E overexpression occurred more frequently in HCC patients with poor differentiation and portal vein thrombus ( P 0.05). Conclusions Expression of Cyclin E is related with HCC carcinogenesis; differentiation , invasion and metastasis, detection of expression of Cyclin E may be helpful in the diagnosis, treatment and prediction of the prognosis of patients with HCC.