Most of the HCC patients in the four cohorts were men (85.5%), were carriers of hepatitis B virus (HBV) (82.6%), had liver cirrhosis (72.8%), had an elevated serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level (61.7%), and had a single tumor nodule at the time of resection (83.7%) (Supplementary Table 1). The gene discussed is AFP; the disease is hepatocellular carcinoma.