Objective：To study the expressions of TGF-β1, CD31 in papillary thyroid cancer tissues and the correlation with the lymph node metastasis. Methods：The expression of TGF-β1mRNA was detected by in situ hybridization, and the expressions of TGF- β1, CD31 were detected by EnVisionTM immunohistochemistry method in 55 tomour tissues and 10 normal tissues; the expression of CD31 was used as the mark of the vascular endothelial cell for detecting the tumor microvascular density（MVD）. Results：The positive expression rate of TGF-β1mRNA in papillary thyroid cancer was 80.00%. The positive expression rate of TGF-β1 in papillary thyroid cancer was 76.37%. The expression levels of TGF-β1 mRNA and TGF- β1 in papillary thyroid cancer tissue were higher than those in normal throid tissue（P < 0.01）. There was positive correlation between MVD and TGF-β1. Conclusion：TGF-β1 could could promote the microvascular formation in papillary thyroid cancer tissues and play an important role in the lymph nodes metastasis.