We used an atomic absorption spectrophotometric method to determine the concentration of selenium, zinc, iron, copper and calcium in the whole blood of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. The results demonstrate that these patients have a lower concentration of selenium (0.18 +/- 0.02 microg/ml vs. 0.28 +/- 0.06 microg/ml) and zinc (11.2 +/- 2.75 microg/ml vs. 18.2 +/- 7.33 microg/ml) than healthy controls (p < 0.05). On the other hand, the hepatocellular carcinoma patients have higher mean concentrations of iron (651.9+/-66.2 microg/ml vs.473.0 +/- 88.0 microg/ml; p < 0.05), copper (1.43 +/- 0.33 microg/ml vs. 0.95 +/- 0.19 microg/ml; p < 0.05) and calcium (75.0 +/- 13.1 microg/ml vs. 39.9 +/- 12.3 microg/ml; p < 0.01) than healthy controls. Thus, hepatocellular carcinoma seems to be associated with the changes in the whole blood concentrations of selenium, zinc, iron, copper and calcium.