Objective: To investigate the status ofhematogenous spreading of hepatatocellular carcinoma(HCC) before or after surgical treatment ortranscatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) andto elucidate the significance of peripheral blood Alphafetoprotein (AFP) mRNA expression in predictingrecurrence or metastasis of HCC. Methods: Peripheralvenous bloods were collected from 60 patients with HCC,20 of whom had received TACE before blood sampleswere collected, and from 30 subjects as control (10 caseswith benign liver disorders, 20 healthy donors). AFPcDNA was amplified from 5 ml whole blood by nestedreverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RTPCR). Results: Of the 60 patients with HCC, 32 cases(53.3%) had positive AFP mRNA in their peripheralblood. In 33 patients with intra-and/or extrahepaticmetastasis, 27 (81.1%) were positive for AFP mRNA. Inpatients who didn’t yet have metastasis when sampleswere collected, 11 (29.7%) gave positive AFP mRNA, 6of whom developed tumor recurrence or metastasis afterthe samples were collected. The presence of AFP mRNAcorrelated with the stage of HCC and the presence ofintrahepatic and/or extrahepatic metastasis, but did notcorrelate with tumor size and serum AFP level. Therewas no significant difference in AFP mRNA expressionbefore and after surgical treatment or TACE.Conclusion: Detection of AFP mRNA by PCR provides asensitive and specific assay of hematogenousdissemination of HCC. TACE can not prevent metastasisof HCC. Systemic chemotherapy or immunotherapy isneeded to prevent occult or overt metastasis. Objective: To investigate the status of hematogenous spreading of hepatatocellular carcinoma (HCC) before or after surgical treatment or transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) andto elucidate the significance of peripheral blood Alphafetoprotein (AFP) mRNA expression in predicting recurrence or metastasis of HCC. Methods: Peripheralvenous bloods were Collected from 60 patients with HCC,20 of whom had received TACE before blood sampleswe collected and from 30 subjects as control (10 caseswith benign liver disorders, 20 healthy donors). AFPcDNA was amplified from 5 ml whole blood by nestedreverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RTPCR). Results: Of the 60 patients with HCC, 32 cases (53.3%) had positive AFP mRNA in their peripheralblood. In 33 patients with intra-and/or extrahepaticmetastasis, 27 (81.1%) were positive for AFP mRNA. Inpatients. Who didn’t yet have metastasis when sampleswere collected, 11 (29.7%) gave positive AFP mRNA, 6of you developed tumor recurrence or The metastasis afterthe samples was collected. The presence of AFP mRNA correlated with the stage of HCC and the presence ofintrahepatic and/or extrahepatic metastasis, but did notcorrelate with tumor size and serum AFP level. Therewas no significant difference in AFP mRNA expressionbefore and after surgical treatment or TACE.Conclusion: Detection of AFP mRNA by PCR provides a sensitive and specific assay of hematogenousdissemination of HCC. TACE can not prevent metastasis of HCC. Systemic chemotherapy or immunotherapy isneeded to prevent occult or overt metastasis.