Objective To explore the expression and significance of haptoglobin(Hp)in papillary thyroid carcinoma. Methods Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) and Western blotting were applied to detect the expression of Hp in 112 cases of papillary thyroid carcinoma,67 cases of benign thyroid node and 50 cases of normal thyroid tissues. Results The relative expression value of Hp mRNA was(0. 913±0. 102)in papillary thyroid carcinoma tissues, which were over-expressed comparing with benign thyroid node(0. 357±0. 009)and normal thyroid tissue(0. 296±0. 008) groups(P 0. 05).In addition,although the level of Hp mRNA increased with the higher clinical stages, there were no statistical significance(P> 0. 05). Conclusion Our results suggested that Hp might play a key role in papillary thyroid carcinoma occurrence.Moreover, findings in the present study also provided evidence for the diagnostic and therapeutic strategies in the treatment of papillary thyroid carcinoma. Key words: Haptoglobin; Papillary thyroid carcinoma