Abstract: Objective To detect the expression levels of serum soluble E-cadherin(sEC) before and after operation in hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) patients and to monitor postoperative recurrence of HCC. Methods The levels of sEC in 105 HCC patients were tested by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) before and after operation as well as in 70 healthy controls. Their correlations with clinical and pathological factors were also analyzed. Retrospectively the level of plasma sEC of 47 patients who had been suffered from the HCC operation and relapse were also analyzed. Results The levels of sEC in hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) patients before operation were significantly higher than those in controls. Which declined signifi cantly one week after operation.The sEC levels before operation showed signifi cant correlation with TNM stages(P<0.01), Edmondson grade, the cancerous thrombi within the portal vein and the capsule of carcinoma (P<0.05), but not with age of patients or tumor size(P>0.05). Conclusion The levels of sEC in HCC patients before operation is closely related with clinical stages, which may be a predictive factor for prognosis and recurrence of HCC.