AIM:To evaluate the correlation between serum vascularcellular adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) levels andclinicopathological features in patients with hepatocellularcarcinoma (HCC).METHODS:Ninety-six patients who underwent HCCresection were recruited in the study.Preoperative serumlevels of soluble VCAM-1 were measured by enzyme-linkedimmunosorbent assay.RESULTS:Serum VCAM-1 level in HCC patients wasinversely correlated with platelet count (r=-0.431,P<0.001)and serum albumin level (r=-0.279,P<0.001),and positivelycorrelated with serum bilirubin level (r=0.379,P<0.001).Serum VCAM-1 level was not associated with tumorcharacteristics such as tumor size,venous invasion,presence of microsatellite nodules,tumor grade and tumorstage.Serum VCAM-1 level was significantly higher in HCCpatients with cirrhosis compared with those without cirrhosis(median 704 vs 546 ng/mL,P<0.001).Furthermore,asignificantly better disease-free survival was observed inHCC patients with low VCAM-1 level (P=0.019).CONCLUSION:Serum VCAM-1 level appears to reflectthe severity of underlying chronic liver disease rather thanthe tumor status in HCC patients,and low preoperativeserum VCAM-1 level is predictive of better disease-freesurvival after surgery. AIM: To evaluate the correlation between serum vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) levels and clinical pathological features in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: Ninety-six patients who underwent HCC resesction were recruited in the study. Preoperative serum levels of soluble VCAM- 1 were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay .RESULTS: Serum VCAM-1 level in HCC patients was intimately correlated with platelet count (r = -0.431, P <0.001) and serum albumin level (r = -0.279, positivelycorrelated with serum bilirubin level (r = 0.379, P <0.001) .Serum VCAM-1 level was not associated with tumorcharacteristics such as tumor size, venous invasion, presence of microsatellite nodules, tumor grade and tumorstage. higher in HCC patients with cirrhosis compared with those without cirrhosis (median 704 vs 546 ng / mL, P <0.001) .Furthermore, asignificantly better disease-free survival was observed in HCC patients with low VCAM-1 level (P = 0.019) SION: Serum VCAM-1 level appears to reflect the severity of underlying chronic liver disease rather thanthe tumor status in HCC patients, and low preoperativeserum VCAM-1 level is predictive of better disease-freesurvival after surgery.