AFP and hepatocellular carcinoma: miR-101 levels were not statistically associated with patient age or gender, or several of the classic markers for HCC progression, including AFP levels, alanine transaminase, aspartate aminotransferase, cirrhosis and tumor-node-metastasis staging; however, a statistically significant correlation was observed between miR-101 expression and HBsAg, HBV DNA level and tumor size (Table II).