AIM: To compare the staging systems for stratifying and predicting the prognosis of patients with hepatocel-lular carcinoma (HCC) after partial hepatectomy (PH). METHODS: Clinical data about 438 HCC patients who underwent PH from January 1991 to December 2004 at our hospital were retrospectively analyzed. Tumor stage was evaluated following the Chinese tumor node me-tastasis (TNM) and barcelona clinic liver cancer (BCLC) staging systems, respectively. Survival curves for the HCC patients were plotted using the Kaplan-Meier method and differences were compared by the log-rank test. The accuracy of each system for predicting death of HCC patients was evaluated by calculating the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. RESULTS: The HCC patients were classified into stag-es Ⅰ-Ⅲ, stages Ⅰ-Ⅳ and stages A-C, according to the 3 staging systems, respectively. Log-rank test showed that the cumulative survival rate was significantly dif-ferent for the HCC patients at 3 Chinese system stag-es, TNM stages Ⅰ and Ⅱ, TNM stages Ⅲ and Ⅳ, and 3 BCLC stages (P < 0.05). However, no significant differ-ence was found in the HCC patients at TNM stages Ⅱ and Ⅲ. The accuracy of the Chinese and BCLC staging systems was higher than that of the TNM staging sys-tem for predicting the survival rate of HCC patients. CONCLUSION: The Chinese and BCLC staging systems are better for stratifying and predicting the prognosis of HCC patients after PH than the TNM staging system. AIM: To compare the staging systems for stratifying and predicting the prognosis of patients with hepatocel-lular carcinoma (HCC) after partial hepatectomy (PH). METHODS: Clinical data about 438 HCC patients who underwent PH from January 1991 to December 2004 at our hospital Tumor stage was calculated following the Chinese tumor node me-tastasis (TNM) and barcelona clinic liver cancer (BCLC) staging systems, respectively. Survival curves for the HCC patients were plotted using the Kaplan-Meier method and differences were more than by the log-rank test. The accuracy of each system for predicting death of HCC patients was evaluated by calculating the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. RESULTS: The HCC patients were classified into stag-es I-III, stages I- IV and stages AC, according to the 3 staging systems, respectively. respectively. Log-rank test showed that the cumulative survival rate was significantly dif-ferent for the HCC patients at 3 Chi nese system stag-es, TNM stages Ⅰ and Ⅱ, TNM stages Ⅲ and Ⅳ, and 3 BCLC stages (P <0.05). However, no significant differ- ence was found in the HCC patients at TNM stages Ⅱ and Ⅲ. The accuracy of the Chinese and BCLC staging systems was higher than that of the TNM staging sys-tem for predicting the survival rate of HCC patients. CONCLUSION: The Chinese and BCLC staging systems are better for stratifying and predicting the prognosis of HCC patients after PH than the TNM staging system.