Objective：To investigate the expressions of baculoviral IAP repeat-containing 6（BIRC6） and their role in hepatocellular carcinoma（HCC）. Methods：Forty samples of surgically resected HCC tissues and corresponding adjacent tissues were collected and BIRC6 expressions in HCC tissues and corresponding adjacent tissues were detected using qRT-PCR and immunohistochemistry. BIRC6 mRNA expressions in normal liver cell line（LO2） and HCC cell lines（HepG2 and SMMC-7721） were detected using qRT-PCR. BIRC6 siRNA was transfected into SMMC-7721 cells and cell viability and apoptosis were analyzed by MTT and flow cytometry. Results：Expressions of BIRC6 in HCC tissues were significantly upregulated compared with those in corresponding adjacent tissues（P=0.004）. Clinicopathological evaluation suggested that BIRC6 high-expression was associated with large tumor size（＞ 5 cm） and advanced TNM stage（P=0.029；P=0.002）. Expressions of BIRC6 mRNA were obviously lower in LO2 than in HepG2 and SMMC-7721（P=0.000）. siRNA suppressed expression of BIRC6 in SMMC-7721 cells decreased cell viability and increased cell apoptosis（P=0.000）. Conclusions：High-expression of BIRC6 correlates with poor clinicopathological characteristics in HCC and BIRC6 may act as an inhibitor of apoptosis as well as a therapeutic target of HCC.