Abstract: Objective:To investigate the correlation of p16 expression with the proliferation, malignant progression and prognosis of brain glioma. Methods: 54 patients of brain glioma were examined with immunohistochemistry. The relationship between the expression of p16 protein and the pathological grade and the recurrence of the tumor were analyzed. Results: There were 29 cases （53.7%） that the expression of p16 protein was negative. The negative rate of Ⅰ, Ⅱ,Ⅲ,Ⅳ pathological grade was 20%, 35.7%,63.6% and 69.2% respectively. The negative rate of Ⅲ and Ⅳ grade was significantly higher than Ⅰand Ⅱ grade. （P＜0.05）. The recurrence rate of patients with positive expression of p16 protein（20.0% ） was significant lower than the those with negative expression（55.2%）.Conclusions: The loss or mutation of p16 gene is one of the reasons of the malignant progression in brain glioma. The immunohistochemical detection of p16 protein acts as a prognosis index for brain glioma.