Abstract: Objective To investigate the expression of HBsAg and hepatocyte nuclear factor 4 alpha （HNF4α） in HBV-associated hepatocellular carcinoma（HCC） tissues. Methods The liver cancerous tissues of 256 individuals with HBV-associated HCC from 2008 to 2013 in You-An Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University were retrospectively reviewed. The expression of HBsAg，HNF4α and glypican-3（GPC-3） were immunohistocamically stained. Results 12（4.7%）out of 256 were found HBsAg positive in tumor tissues; the HBsAg-positive rates in 39 well-differentiated，119 moderately and 98 poorly （2%，2/98） differentiated cancerous tissues were 20.5%（P<0.05），1.7% and 2.0%，respectively；the positive rates of HNF4α in well-differentiated tumor was 65.6%（21/32），much higher than in moderately or poorly differentiated cancerous tissues[18.8%（3/16），P<0.001]；11 （91.7%）out of 12 HBsAg positive caner were HNF4α positive，much higher than 36.1% （P<0.05） in 36 with HBsAg negative；the expression of GPC-3 was positive in 4 moderately or poorly differentiated cancerous tissues. Conclusion The low expression of HNF4α might be related to the low expression of HBsAg in HBV-associated HCC tissues，which means the expression of HBsAg should be assisted by the existence of HNF4α.

Key words: Hepatocellular carcinoma, Hepatocyte nuclear factor 4 alpha, Hepatitis B virus surface antigen