AIM:To clarify the location and distribution of Kupffer cellsin hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC),and to investigate theirrole in hepatocarcinogenesis.METHODS:Kupffer cells were immunohistochemically stainedby streptavadin-peroxidase conjugated method(S-P).Thenumbers of Kupffer cells in cancerous,para-cancerous andadjacent normal liver tissues of 48 HCCs were comparativelyexamined.RESULTS:The mean number of Kupffer cells in cancerous,para-cancerous and adjacent normal liver tissues was12.7±6.8,18.1±8.2 and 18.9±7.9 respectively.The numberof Kuppfer cells in cancerous tissues was significantly lowerthan that in para-cancerous tissues(t=2.423,P<0.05)andadjacent normal liver tissues(t=2.521,P<0.05).As tumorsize increased,the number of Kupffer cells in canceroustissues significantly decreased(F=4.61,P<0.05).Moreover,there was also a significant difference in the number of Kupffercells among well-differentiated,moderately-differentiatedand poorly-differentiated cases(F=4.49,P<0.05).CONCLUSION:This study suggests that decrease of Kupffercells in HCCs may play an important role in the carcinogenesisof HCC,the number of Kupffer cells in HCC is closely relatedto the size and differentiation grade of the tumor. AIM: To clarify the location and distribution of Kupffer cells in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and to investigate their in hepatocarcinogenesis. METHODS: Kupffer cells were immunohistochemically stained by streptavidin-peroxidase conjugated method (SP). Tensumbers of Kupffer cells in cancerous, para- cancerous andadjacent normal liver tissues of 48 HCCs were comparatively expanded. RESULTS: The mean number of Kupffer cells in cancerous, para-cancerous and adjacent normal liver tissues was 12.7 ± 6.8, 18.1 ± 8.2 and 18.9 ± 7.9 respectively. The number of Kuppfer cells in cancerous The tissues were significantly lowererthan that in para-cancerous tissues (t = 2.423, P <0.05) andadjacent normal liver tissues (t = 2.521, , P <0.05) .Moreover, there was also a significant difference in the number of Kupffercells among well-differentiated, moderately-differentiated and poorly-differentiated cases (F = 4.49, P <0.05) .CONCLUSIO N: This study suggests that decrease of Kupffer cells in HCCs may play an important role in the carcinogenesis of HCC, the number of Kupffer cells in HCC is closely related to the size and differentiation grade of the tumor.