Objective To study the expressions of fragile histidine triad (FHIT) and hMLH_1 in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and their correlativity. Methods Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expressions of FHIT and hMLH_1 in 69 OSCC and 40 normal oral mucosa. The data was analyzed by Chi-square test. Results The positive rate of FHIT and hMLH_1 in OSCC (46.4% and 47.8%) was lower than that in normal oral mucosa (77.5% and 77.5%), with statistically significant difference (P