Abstract: Objective To investigate the expression of interferon-induced transmembrane protein （IFITM3） in hepatocellular carcinoma（HCC） and its correlation with intrahepatic tumor recurence after hepatectomy. Methods A total of 43 patients with HCC were recruited in our hospital,and all of them received hepatectomy. The specimens of cancer and its adjacent liver tissues were taken,and the expression of IFITM3 was detected by Western blot and by immunohistochemistry. All the patients were followed-up for 1 years. Results The expression of IFITM3 protein in HCC tissues was （1.2386±0.1901）,significantly stronger than （0.9496±0.0995） in the adjacent tissues （t=8.832,P=0.000）；the results of immunohistochemical staining showed that the brownish yellow granular IFITM3 protein located in the cytoplasm of liver cancer tissues and adjacent tissues,and the positive rate of IFITM3 protein in hepatocellular carcinoma was 72.1%（31/43）,significantly higher than 14.0%（6/43） in adjacent tissues（x²=29.647,P=0.000）；the positive rate of IFITM protein in low and medium differentiated HCC tissues were 95.2%（20/21） and 90.9%（10/11）,significantly higher than 9.1%（1/11） in high differentiated group（x²=14.727,P=0.000；x²=23.748,P=0.000）；the positive rate of IFITM3 protein in patients with recurrent intrahepatic tumor was 81.0% （17/21）,much higher than 22.7% （5/22） in without tumor recurrence（x²=14.578,P=0.000）. Conclusion IFITM3 protein is highly expressed in HCC tissues,and the worse the differentiation of HCC,the stronger the degree of expression,which might closely be related to the recurrence of HCC after hepatectomy.

Key words: Hepatoma, Interferon-induced transmembrane protein, Tumor recurrence, Immunohistochemistry