GPC3 and hepatocellular carcinoma: On the other hand, GPC3 has been shown to be overexpressed in hepatocellular carcinomas (Hsu et al, 1997; Toretsky et al, 2001; Zhu et al, 2001; Midorikawa et al, 2003) and to be associated with advanced stages as well as with the invasive potential of this cancer (Hsu et al, 1997).