Objective: To investigate the relations of the c-met expression level in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissue with the postoperative recurrence and survival of HCC patients. Methods: The expression levels of c-met protein in the tissue samples from preoperative liver needle biopsy and surgical excision specimens of 64 HCC patients undergoing hemihepatectomy (surgical treatment group), as well as in the samples from preoperative liver needle biopsy of 30 HCC patients who received transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TAE) (TAE group) were detected by Western blot analysis. The c-met expressions between the patients relapsing within and beyond one year in surgical treatment group were compared. Based on the mean c-met expression value obtained from the results in preoperative liver needle biopsy of all patients, the patients in both surgical treatment group and TAE group were stratified into low c-met (≤ mean value) and high c-met (> mean value) subgroups, and then, the one-year recurrence rate, time to recurrence and incidence of cancer embolus between the subgroups of surgical treatment group were compared, and the post-treatment survival among the 4 subgroups in surgical treatment group and TAE group were also compared. Results: In surgical treatment group, the measured values of c-met expression between the specimens obtained by preoperative needle biopsy and surgical resections were consistent, and the c-met expression level in patients who relapsed within one year was higher than those who relapsed beyond one year, and further, the recurrence rate and incidence of cancer embolus was higher, and time to recurrence was shorter in high c-met subgroup than those in low c-met subgroup, and all differences had statistical significance (all P<0.05). The postoperative survival in low c-met subgroup of surgical treatment group was better than that in its higher c-met subgroup and low or high c-met subgroup in TAE group (all P<0.05), but no statistical difference was seen among the latter three subgroups (all P>0.05). Conclusion: The c-met expression level is closely related to postoperative recurrence and survival of HCC patients, and those with low c-met expression may have a better outcome. Thus, it suggests that c-met detection can be used as postoperative prognostic indicator for HCC, and preoperative needle biopsy is a feasible approach for obtaining the specimen.