TGFBR2 and cancer: To investigate the status of TGF-β signaling pathway, we initially analyzed gene expression profile studies in OncomineTM (Compendia Bioscience, Ann Arbor, MI) and found that in the report by Wurmbach and co-workers [25], TβRII, one of the TGF-β signaling pathway components that is frequently dysregulated in cancer [26], was significantly reduced in HCCs when compared to that in cirrhosis (Fig. 1A).