Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) accounts for many cases of cancer-associated mortality. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α is a key mediator of tumor-promoting inflammation. It has been demonstrated that anti-TNF-α treatments have preclinical benefits for multiple types of cancer, however their potential for treating HCC remains unclear. Through fluorescence-activated cell sorter analysis and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, the results of the current study indicated that TNF-α was strongly expressed in HCC tissues and the HCC cell lines HepG2 and Hep3B. 