The X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis (XIAP) is a member of a novel family of inhibitors of apoptosis and has several BIR domains (BIR1, BIR2, and BIR3) and a carboxy-terminal RING zinc-finger. Since suppressionof apoptosis is fundamentally important for carcinogenesis and tumor growth, we investigated the expression and function of XIAP in DEN-induced carcinogenesis using rat model. Wistar rats were injected intraperitoneally with DEN at a dose of 50 mg/kg in twice a week for 12 weeks (Group II) and 16 weeks (Group III) followed by the recovery periods, respectively. The evaluation of DEN-induced carcinogenesis carried out the blood, RT-PCR, histopathological and western blot analysis. The level of blood chemistry including GOT/GPT, albumin, and total bilirubin were significantly exchanged comparing to control and Group I/Group II. The expression of albumin and collagen mRNA were significantly exchanged (P<0.05) in both groups. In addition, AFP mRNA expression decreased more after recovery periods than Group II. XIAP was expressed constitutively in normal rat liver as well as DEN-induced Groups I and Group II. In addition, XIAP expression increased more in Group I with 4 weeks recovery periods than Group I. However, XIAP expression shown to increase in Group lI, otherwise, it was decreased in Group II with 10 weeks repair periods. Taken together, these results suggest the alteration of XIAP expression could be involved in hepatocellular carcinogenesis.