FRZB and chronic hepatitis: Because there have been no reports about the role of SFRP3 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), we investigated the level of methylation and transcription of SFRP3. Four HCC cell lines, 60 HCCs, 23 cirrhosis livers, 37 chronic hepatitis livers, and 30 control livers were prescreened for SFRP3 promoter methylation by methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MS-PCR) and bisulfite sequencing.