Histone deacetylases (HDACs) are key enzymes responsible for the removal of acetyl groups from acetylated histone and non-histone proteins, and play important roles in various biological processes including transcription regulation and DNA repair. In this study, we identified 22 sequence variants by direct DNA sequencing in 24 individuals and five common variant were selected for genotyping in larger-scale subjects (n=1095). Statistical analysis revealed that HDAC10-589C>T was significantly associated with HCC occurrence among chronic HBV patients (OR=2.39, P(cor)=0.04) as well as HCC acceleration among chronic HBV patients (RH=1.97, Pcor=0.002). Functional assay also revealed that luciferase activity of "T" allele was significantly higher than that of "C" allele of HDAC10-589C>T (P=0.023). These results suggest that the "T" allele of HDAC10-589C>T affect on the increased transcription activity, and might accelerate HCC development through increased expression of HDAC10.