AKR1B10 and chronic hepatitis: To further study the significance of AKR1B10 alterations in the early stages of hepatocarcinogenesis, we evaluated AKR1B10 expression in 61 HCCs and corresponding non-tumorous liver tissues (NTs), which comprised 42 chronic hepatitis and 19 cirrhosis cases, and compared AKR1B10 expression with the expression of the other two molecules known to be upregulated in well-differentiated HCC—HSP70 and GPC3—both of which are widely used as immunohistochemical molecular markers of early HCC [14].