We investigated the role of cirrhosis and FGF-2 in the pathogenesis of HCC development complicating chronic HCV by detection of gremlin and BMP-7 mRNA and correlating their presence with hepatic progenitor cell numbers in cases of cirrhosis and HCC complicating chronic HCV in Egyptian patients with HCV type 4. This evidence concerns the gene GREM1 and hepatocellular carcinoma.