Alpha 1,6-fucosyltransferase 8 expression was demonstrated to be enhanced during hepatocarcinogenesis.Our study aimed to find out the clinical significance and biological function of alpha 1,6-fucosyltransferase 8 in hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma.Alpha 1,6-fucosyltransferase 8 expression levels were determined in 52 pairs of tissues to compare its expression between tumour tissues [with/without portal vein tumour thrombus] and adjacent noncancerous liver tissues. Relationship between alpha 1,6-fucosyltransferase 8 expression and clinical indicators was also investigated. An alpha 1,6-fucosyltransferase 8-knockdown (by RNAi) cell line MHCC97-H/siFUT8 was established to reveal functional impact of alpha 1,6-fucosyltransferase 8 on cell growth, migration and invasion in hepatocellular carcinoma, respectively using Cell Counting Kit-8, wound healing migration assay, transwell assay and gelatin zymography.We observed a higher alpha 1,6-fucosyltransferase 8 expression level in tumour tissues than adjacent noncancerous liver tissues. In portal vein tumour thrombus group, alpha 1,6-fucosyltransferase 8 protein expressed more in portal vein tumour thrombus tissues than that in adjacent noncancerous liver tissues. The expression level in tumour tissues was highly correlated with tumour size and presence of satellite nodules (P<0.05). Furthermore, alpha 1,6-fucosyltransferase 8-knockdown suppressed the tumour proliferation, migration and invasion of MHCC97-H cells.These findings suggest that alpha 1,6-fucosyltransferase 8 expression might be a good indicator of poor prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma. High alpha 1,6-fucosyltransferase 8 expression may play an important role in hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma progression.