Objective To investigate the roles of NF-κB and EGFR in hepatolithiasis associated with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. Methods Ninety cases of liver tissue specimens from hepatectomies performed in the 2nd Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University between August 1989 and June 2009 were enrolled in the study. Among them, 33 cases of hepatolithiasis associated with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma were considered as observing group, 32 cases of hepatolithiasis as control group, and 25 cases of normal bile duct tissues as normal control group. The SP method of immunohistochemical staining was applied to detect the expressions of NF-κB and EGFR in intrahepatic biliary ducts epithelial cells, and their relations with clinicopathologic factors and the accumulated survival rate of hepatolithiasis associated with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma were analyzed. Results Expression rates of NF-κB and EGFR were gradually raised from normal control group, control group to observing group (Plt;0.01). Expression of EGFR in tumor patients was related to histopathologic differentiation grading and the depth of tumor invasion (Plt;0.05), but not to gender, age, or lymph node metastasis (Pgt;0.05)； there were no significant relationships between the expression of NF-κB and factors described above (Pgt;0.05). The survival rate of patients with tumor expressed EGFR was significantly lower than that of patients with tumor non-expressed EGFR (Plt;0.01). Conclusions NF-κB expression is in the early stage during intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma genesis. NF-κB and EGFR play cooperating roles during hepatolithiasis carcinogenesis process. Over expression of EGFR is related with poor differentiation and prognosis of tumor.