Objective To assess the survival of patients receiving high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) and investigate the prognostic factors for primary hepatocellular carcinoma (PHCC) victims with HIFU application. Methods One hundred and eighty-seven patients with PHCC undergoing HIFU treatment in our department were enrolled into this study from June 2004 to June 2007. Among them, 101 patients were males and 86 were females (mean age: 47.7 years old, range: 19-79 years old). The average tumor size was 5.7 cm (range: 0.5-18.0 cm). Of these 187 patients, numbers according to Child-Pugh grade of A, B and C were 104, 52 and 31, respectively. According to TNM system, 45, 111 and 31 patients were in stage Ⅱb, Ⅲa and Ⅲb respectively. Kaplan-Meier model and log-rank test were used in univariate analysis and Cox regression model was used in multivariate analysis to identify prognostic factors for survival. Results Survival period was (17.3±2.5) months after HIFU treatment of PHCC. The overall survival rate of 3-month, 6-month, 1-year and 2-year were 79.1%, 60.1%, 35.7%, and 29.3%， respectively. It was significant that tumor number (P=0.02), size (P=0.04)， AFP (P=0.04)， Child-Pugh grade (P=0.00)， TNM stage (P=0.01)， tumor metastasis (P=0.03) before HIFU， and tumor recurrence after HIFU (P=0.02) and standard treatment (P=0.02) were prognostic factors by single factor analysis. The following factors were identified as independent prognostic factors for overall survival by multivariate model: standard treatment protocol (P=0.000), and TNM stage (P=0.004) and Child-Pugh grade (P=0.009) before HIFU. Conclusion It is used for improving overall survival rate to found PHCC early, protect liver function, examine comprehensively before HIFU treatment, focus on standard treatment and auxiliary treatment.