Liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma, HCC) is a major malignancy worldwide. 
Etiologically, hepatocarcinogenesis is closely associated with HBV and HCV 
infections; however, its underlying molecular mechanism is not completely 
understood. MicroRNAs are a class of small non-coding RNAs that negatively 
regulate gene expression by interacting with the 3'UTR of protein-coding mRNA. 
MicroRNAs are implicated in nearly all major biological and cellular events, and 
recent findings further link microRNA deregulation to human carcinogenesis. In 
this review, we will focus on the aberrant expression of miRNAs in liver cancer 
and the pathological implications and molecular functions of some 
well-characterized oncogenic and tumor suppressive miRNAs. Finally, the clinical 
prospect of miRNAs as a novel diagnostic and therapeutic intervention will be 
discussed.