LASP1 and hepatocellular carcinoma: In the present study, we wanted to investigate further the role of LASP-1 expression in HCC by determining for the first time the expression levels of LASP-1 mRNA in HCC tumors with different hepatic background disease and by characterizing the ectopic LASP-1 overexpression in HCC cells using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry.