In another group of HCC patients whose survival has been difficult to predict in the clinic, namely, those with tumor sizes smaller than 3 cm in diameter, the 5-year survival rate was 40% in the low MACC1 group, as opposed to 15% for patients exhibiting high MACC1 expression (P = 0.002, Figure 4A). This evidence concerns the gene MACC1 and hepatocellular carcinoma.