SFRP1 and hepatocellular carcinoma: To address whether the genetic aberrations could contribute to the down-regulation of SFRP1, genomic imbalance of the SFRP1 locus was evaluated in 46 pairs of HCC specimens with or without SFRP1 expression by using the microsatellite markers D8S532 and D8SAC016868, which were found on chromosome 8p11.2 flanking the SFRP1 locus (Fig. 4A).