The current study was designed to investigate the contribution of chemokines to the pathogenesis of chronic hepatitis C and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by measuring the production of IL-8, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and macrophage inflammatory protein-1 alpha (MIP-1alpha). A solid-phase sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was established to quantitate serum concentrations of the chemokines. Expression of chemokines in liver tissues was evaluated immunohistochemically using specific monoclonal antibodies. As the severity of chronic hepatitis escalated, serum IL-8 levels increased progressively. Moreover, in the hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients, IL-8 concentrations were positively correlated with the macroscopic staging of HCC, and inversely correlated with the duration of the survival periods. The results demonstrate that IL-8 production may be augmented upon the malignant transformation of hepatocytes in chronic hepatitis C.