Human hepatoma and normal liver cells were irradiated with 12C6+ ion beams (LET = 96.05 keV/μm) and γ-rays at Heavy Ion Research Facility in Lanzhou (HIRFL). The chromatid breaks and break types were detected using the premature chromosome condensation technique. Our experimental results showed that chromatid breaks seem to have a good relation with 12C6+ absorbed dose and 12C6+ are more effective to induce chromatid breaks as compared to the γ-rays. For 12C6+ ion irradiation the major break was isochromatid break, while chromatid breaks were dominant for γ-ray irradiation. We also observed that the Relative Biology Effectiveness (RBE) of 12C6+ ion is about 2.5 times higher than that of γ-rays.