Postoperative hepatic insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) production may be severely disturbed in patients with liver cirrhosis. Complex alterations in the GH/IGF-1 axis are thought to play an important role in the protein catabolism that complicates major surgical procedures. The aim of this study was to explore the effects of parenteral nutrition (PN) with and without growth hormone (GH) on the GH/IGF-1 axis after hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with cirrhosis and evaluate the potential roles of recombinant human GH (rhGH) therapy. Twenty-four patients with HCC with cirrhosis who underwent hepatectomy were randomly divided into two groups: a PN group ( = 12) and an rhGH+PN group ( = 12). Liver function, serum GH, IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 were measured before the operation and at postoperative days (POD) 1 and 6. Insulin-like growth factor-1 and IGFBP-3 mRNA in the liver tissue was detected by RT-PCR. The liver Ki67 immunohistochemistry staining was studied. At the same time, 12 patients with cholelithiasis or liver hemangioma who underwent operation served as normal control group. On POD 6, serum prealbumin, GH, IGF-1, IGFBP-3, hepatic IGF-1 mRNA, IGFBP-3 mRNA and liver Ki67 LI were higher in the rhGH+PN group than in the PN group. There was no significant difference in the 6- and 12-month tumor-free survival rate and the median tumor-free survival time between the PN group and the rhGH+PN group (〉0.05). These data indicate that rhGH+PN could ameliorate the changes in the GH/IGF-1 axis after hepatectomy for HCC in the setting of cirrhosis.