In order to gain insight into the etiology of HCC and its influence on P2 purinergic receptor overexpression in HCC livers, we stratified our TMC patients based on their history of viral infection and found that P2 purinergic receptor upregulation, as assessed by qRT-PCR was more prevalent among those patients infected with HCV, as compared to non-viral groups (Figure 1E). This evidence concerns the gene P2RX2 and hepatocellular carcinoma.