Focusing on genes potentially relevant for HCC development we detected upregulation of CDH13, KDR, IGFBP1/3 and downregulation of CDKN2A, WT1, DLC1 suggesting that transregulation of these genes might play a role in the early phase of malignant hepatocyte transformation. This evidence concerns the gene IGFBP1 and hepatocellular carcinoma.