In order to investigate the possibility of overexpression of Twist in primary liver cancer (PLC), the Twist expression was detected by using immunohistochemical analysis and RT-PCR assay in 45 patients with PLC. Control tissues were obtained from 9 patients with liver hemangioma. It was found that in 36 (80.0%) out of 45 PLC patients, cancerous regions showed positive cytoplasm and nucleus staining for Twist with a diffuse pattern. In noncancerous adjacent areas and control liver tissues, the expression of Twist was 57.8% and 22.2% respectively. The results of RT-PCR assay re- vealed that the expression of Twist was stronger in the cancerous tissues than that in the noncancer- ous adjacent tissues. It was suggested that the expression of Twist was up-regulated in PLC, which play an important role in the progression of PLC.