Liver transplantation (OLT) is the treatment of choice for patients with hepatic cirrhosis related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Among 156 liver transplant patients for HCC from June 1996 to February 2005, 23 had recurrent HCC. To evaluate risk factors that affect early recurrence of HCC after OLT, we divided the 23 patients into two groups: early (< or =12 months) and late (>12 months) recurrences. Among them, 15 patients were dead and eight alive patients had been followed to 31 July 2005. The most common recurrence site was the grafted liver (n = 15), next was bone (n = 11), lung (n = 8), lymph node (n = 6), brain (n = 4), skin (n = 2), adrenal gland (n = 1). There were no significant differences between the two groups in age or tumor size, number of tumors, cell differentiation, alpha-feto protein levels, tumor staging, number of patients within Milan criteria, steroid pulse therapy, infectious diseases, and immunostaining of tumor. In our study, there were no risk factors that predict early tumor recurrence. We noticed that more patients in the early recurrence group were excluded by Milan criteria due to a more progressed tumor staging with higher mean levels of serum alpha-feto protein.