Abstract: Objective To provide reference for early diagnosis by searching for tumor markers in the progression of alcoholic hepatitis to liver cancer. 
Methods The medical records of patients with alcohol-related liver cancer were retrieved and analyzed. Alcoholic hepatitis/liver cancer patients and alcoholic hepatitis/cirrhosis patients were selected to screen target MicroRNA(miRNA).The role of miR-151a-3p in cancer cells was tested in liver cancer cell lines, and their mechanism was studied. 
Results Patients with alcoholic hepatitis who did not undergo the stage of liver cirrhosis and directly progressed to liver cancer were younger than those who experienced the stage of liver cirrhosis(P＜0.05); the expression level of miR-151a-3p in patients with alcoholic hepatitis/liver cancer was significantly higher than that in patients with alcoholic hepatitis/liver cirrhosis. The expression level of miR-151a-3p in liver cancer cell lines was significantly higher than that in normal liver cell lines, and HepG2 had the highest expression. In HepG2 and Bel-7402, the expression level of miR-151a-3p was down-regulated, showing an increase in the G0/G1 phase and a decrease in the G2/M phase. In Si-miR-151a-3p(HepG2) and Si-miR-151a-3p(Bel-7402) cells, mRNA and protein expression levels of ATM increased, mRNA expression levels of P53 increased, and protein expression levels of P-P53 increased, while mRNA and protein expression levels of Cyclin D1 decreased. 
Conclusion Some patients with alcoholic hepatitis can directly progress to liver cancer without going through the stage of cirrhosis, in which miR-151a-3p plays an important role, by directly targeting ATM to inhibit P53, thereby promoting the expression of cyclin D1,  and leading to the occurrence and development of liver cancer.

Key words: hepatitis, alcoholic , carcinoma, hepatocellular, miR-151a-3p