Background Hepatic Alveolar echinococcosis (AE) is also known as worm cancer, parasitic cancer, and it often invades the regional lymph nodes of the liver. The present study was to investigate the clinical value of radical hepatectomy and lymphadenectomy in AE patients. Methods Our study enrolled consecutive AE patients who underwent radical hepatectomy with removal the regional lymph nodes between January 2009 and April 2019. Patients with inflammatory lymph node enlargement was included in group A, and patients with AE lymph node invasion were included in group B. The clinical characteristics, survival and recurrence rates were compared.Results A total of 103 patients were enrolled group A, and 24 in group B. Preoperative computed tomography showed that the lymph node positivity rate in group B was 70.8% while that in group A was 43.7% (p=0.017). The lymph node diameter was 1.8±0.9 cm in group A vs 2.5±1.1 cm in group B (p=0.004), and the lymph node number (p=0.035) and lymph node location (p=0.001). A total of 10 patients (7.9%) had recurrent lesions, and 6 patients (4.7%) died (P>0.05). Conclusions lymph node diameter, number, and distance from the liver were important characteristics for describing lymph node invasion. There was no difference in the long-term efficacy of lymphadenectomy between patients with lymph node enlargement and those with invasion.