We have previously utilized a combination of EpCAM and AFP expression to identify two distinct HCC subgroups, i.e., EpCAM+AFP+ HCCs (named as HpSC-HCCs) with poor prognosis, high metastasis, and the presence of a hepatic stem cell (HpSC) feature, and EpCAM-AFP- HCCs (named as MH-HCCs) with good prognosis and the presence of a mature hepatocytes (MH) feature. The gene discussed is AFP; the disease is hepatocellular carcinoma.