AIM: To investigate the prediction value of radiosensitivity of hepatocarcinoma cells for apoptosis and micronucleus assay.METHODS: Clonogenic assay, flow cytometry, and CB micronuclei assay were used to survey the cell survival rate, radiation-induced apoptosis and micronucleus frequency of hepatocarcinoma cell lines SMMC-7721,HL-7702, and HepG2 after being irradiated by X-ray at the dosage ranging 0-8 Gy.RESULTS: After irradiation, there was a dose-effect relationship between micronucleus frequency and radiation dosage among the three cell lines (P＜0.05). A positive relationship was observed between apoptosis and radiation dosage among the three cell lines. The HepG2 cells had a significant correlation (P＜0.05) but apoptosis incidence had a negative relationship with micronucleus frequency. There was a positive relationship between apoptosis and radiation dosage and the correlation between SMMC-7721 and HL-7702 cell lines had a significant difference (P＜0.01). After irradiation,a negative relationship between cell survival rate and radiation dosages was found among the three cell lines(P＜0.01). There was a positive relationship between cell survival rate and micronucleus frequency (P＜0.01). No correlation was observed between apoptosis and cell survival rate.CONCLUSION: The radiosensitivity of hepatocarcinoma cells can be reflected by apoptosis and micronuclei.Detection of apoptosis and micronuclei could enhance the accuracy for predicting radiosensitivity.