The potential effects of adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AT-MSCs) on the growth and invasion of canine tumours including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are not yet understood. Moreover in humans, the functional contribution of AT-MSCs to malignancies remains controversial. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of AT-MSCs on the proliferation and invasion of canine HCC cells in vitro. The effect of AT-MSCs on mRNA levels of factors related to HCC progression were also evaluated. Conditioned medium from AT-MSCs (AT-MSC-CM) significantly enhanced canine HCC cell proliferation and invasion. Moreover, mRNA expression levels of transforming growth factor-beta 1, epidermal growth factor A, hepatocyte growth factor, platelet-derived growth factor-beta, vascular endothelial growth factor, and insulin-like growth factor 2 were 2.3 ± 0.4, 2.0 ± 0.5, 5.7 ± 1.9, 1.7 ± 0.2, 2.1 ± 0.4, and 1.4 ± 0.3 times higher, respectively (P &lt
0.05). The mRNA expression level of MMP-2 also increased (to 4.0 ± 1.2 times control levels) in canine HCC cells co-cultured with AT-MSCs, but MMP-9 mRNA significantly decreased (to 0.5 ± 0.1 times control levels). These findings suggest that soluble factors from AT-MSCs promote the proliferation and invasion of canine HCC cells.