Objective To further investigate the expression of rnMAGE-1 gene in hepatocellular carcincma (HCC).rnMethods The tumors and adjacent liver tissue from rn45 HCC patients and liver tissue from 28 non-HCC rnpatients (16 with liver cirrhosis and 12 with normal rnliver) were characterized by RT-PCR. A 421 bp PCR rnproduct from a cDNA fragment spanning exons 1,2 rnand 3 was sequenced. The HLA type wes assayed by rnstandard ELISA in 43 HCC patients.rnResults Thirty-two of 45 tumor tissues from HCC rnpatients expressed MAGE-1 mRNA (71.1%).In rncontrast, MAGE-1 mRNA was not detected in adjacent rntissues. Three were found to have point mutations at 3 rnidntical sites resulting in the substitution of two amino rnacid residues.The most frequent HLA types in 43 HCC rnpatients were: HLA-A2, 53.5%; A11, 25.6%; A24,rn20.9%; A33, 20.9%; HLA-B13, 28.3% and B35,rn23.2%. Expression of HLA-A33 (20.9%) was higher rnin HCC patients than that predicted in the normal rnChinese population (8.8%). There was no rndiscemable correlation between MAGE-1 expression rnand α-FP level, tumor size and hepatitis B or C virus rninfection.The identification of peptides which are rnrestricted by haploptypes other than A1 should increase rnthe opportunity for paptide based immunotherapy.rnConclusions This study shows that MAGE-1 mRNA rnis highly expressed in HCC tumor tissue in Chinese rnpatients. Previously unreported point mutations in the rnMAGE-1 gene are described and may also provide rnadditional opportunities for immunotherapy.