4169 Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a malignant neoplasia that is associated with liver cirrosis in up to 60–80% of the cases. The incidence of HCC varies between 3 and 9% and it is one of the principal causes of death in patients with cirrhosis. The viral causes of liver cirrhosis, particularly by infection of hepatitis C virus, are associated with a greater risk of HCC, the pathologic mechanisms involved are probably a consequence of the inflammatory reaction. Colchicine is an anti-inflammatory agent, which inhibits the formation of intracellular microtubules, causing disturbances in the process of mitosis and in the formation of fibrosis. Diverse random studies have failed to demonstrate if colchicine has any benefit over mortality in patients with liver cirrhosis of any etiology. Methods: We made a retrospective study of a cohort of 350 patients with postnecrotic liver cirrhosis, to evaluate the effect of the administration of colchicine over the time of HCC development. We analyzed the clinical and pathological factors that are associated with the presence of hepatocarcinoma. Results: The average follow-up was of 84+/- 2.8 months. Two hundred and twenty patients received 1mg during 5 days per week of colchicine and 130 patients just received symptomatic treatment. The patients who received colchicine had the same Child- Pugh classification that the group that didn’t. Colchicine didn’t affect the progression of the Child score, during the first three years of follow-up. The percentage of patients that develop HCC was significantly less in the group who received colchicine in comparison with those that didn’t receive it (26 vs 10.3% p=0.0001). With the multivariate analysis we found that age greater than 52 and having less than 116 000 platlelets at the moment of diagnosis, as well as not receiving treatment with colchicine, were associated with developing HCC in lesser time. The protective mechanisms of colchicine over the development of HCC could be related with it’s effect as an anti-inflammatory drug and mithosis inhibition. Conclusions: Colchicine prevents the development of HCC, independently from the liver reserve nor the patient’ s age. No significant financial relationships to disclose.