Of the miRNAs we detected here as dysregulated, many are similarly dysregulated in other cancers: down-regulation of miR-125b in breast cancer [26], the let-7 miRNA family in lung cancer [27], miR-21 which activates PTEN in hepatocellular cancer [19], miR-155 in B cell lymphomas [28], miR-221 and miR-222 that clearly differentiate papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTC) from normal thyroid tissues (See Additional file 1). This evidence concerns the gene PTEN and hepatocellular carcinoma.