Objective Shh and Ptch have been known to play critical roles in the hedgehog pathway and the hedgehog pathway activation occurs in the gastrointestinal cancers. This study was to detect the expression of Shh and Ptch in gallbladder carcinoma, and explore their correlation to gallbladder carcinoma. Methods The expression of Shh and Patch protein in 41 specimens of primary gallbladder carcinoma, 20 specimens of normal gallbladder and 21 specimens of adenoma tissue were assessed by immunohistochemistry.Results The positive expression rate of Shh and Ptch in gallbladder carcinoma was 75.6% (31/41) and 78.0% (32/40) respectively, in normal gallbladder mucous was 5% ( 1/20 ) and 5% ( 1/20 ) respectively,in gallbladder adenoma was 4.7% ( 1/21 ) and 9.6% (2/21) respectively, and there was significant differenee between the three groups in Shh and Patch expression values(P ＜0.001 ). However, there was no significant difference between age group, histological grade group, histologic type group, Nevin stage group,lymph node or distal organ metastasis group, and gallstone presence group in Shh and Ptch expression value (P ＞ 0.05, respectively). The expression of Shh was positively correlated to Ptch (r = 0.72, P ＜ 0.01 ).Conclusion These data support our hypothesis that Hh signaling is dysregulated in human gallbladder carcinognesis.