ObjectiveTo investigate the effects of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) promoter mutation and TERT mRNA expression on the prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after radical resection, and the clinicopathological factors affecting the prognosis of patients with HCC after radical resection were explored.MethodsClinical data of 212 HCC patients underwent radical resection from Jan. 2009 to Jan. 2016 in The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of University of Electronic Science and Technology of China were selected and analyzed. The mutations of TERT, TP53, and catenin beta 1 (CTNNB1) were detected by Sanger sequencing, and the expression of TERT mRNA was detected by SYBR. Patients were followed up routinely and their overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were recorded.ResultsThe mutation rates of the TERT promoter, TP53, and CTNNB1 gene were 17.9% (38/212), 40.1% (85/212), and 13.7% (29/212), respectively. The TERT promoter mutation had significant correlation with Child-Pugh classification and preoperative albumin value (P<0.05). Expression level of TERT mRNA had significant correlation with HBV infection, Child-Pugh classification, preoperative AST value and ALT value (P<0.05). Cox proportional hazards regression result showed that anatomical hepatectomy, tumor diameter>5 cm, and high expression of TERT mRNA were significant prognostic factors of OS (P<0.05); preoperative platelets count≤100×109/L, tumor diameter>5 cm, and high expression of TERT mRNA were significant prognostic factors of DFS (P<0.05).ConclusionFor patients after HCC surgery, high expression of TERT mRNA may be a key factor affecting the prognosis of HCC patients.