Background: Various studies examined the relationship between p53 mutation with the clinical outcome in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but yielded conflicting results. Methods: Electronic databases updated to July 2013 were searched to find relevant studies. A meta-analysis was conducted with eligible studies which quantitatively evaluated the relationship between p53 mutation and survival of patients with HCC. Survival data were aggregated and quantitatively analyzed. Results: We performed a meta-analysis of 9 studies that evaluated the correlation between p53 mutation and survival in patients with HCC. Combined hazard ratios suggested that p53 mutation had an unfavorable impact on overall survival (OS) [hazard ratio (HR) =1.46, 95％ confidence interval (CI): 1.15-1.76], and disease free survival (DFS) (HR =2.57, 95％ CI: 1.46-3.68) in patients with HCC. The significant heterogeneity (P=0.035) was observed among 8 studies for OS, however no significant heterogeneity (P=0.597) was observed among 5 studies for DFS. Conclusions: p53 mutation indicates a poor prognosis for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.