SOCS3 and hepatocellular carcinoma: Previous studies have demonstrated that genetic variant mainly in the form of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) plays an important role in chemosensitivity, tumor recurrence, and prognosis of HCC patients.12,3 Although a close association between SOCS3 protein and HCC has been established, the genetic polymorphism of SOCS3 gene and HCC remains unknown.