MECOM and hepatocellular carcinoma: The expression of EVI1 mRNA and protein were markedly higher in the Hep3B (a cell line containing the integrated hepatitis B viral genome) and HepG2.2.15 (a derivative of the human hepatoma cell line HepG2 that has been stably transformed with a head-to-tail dimer of HBV DNA) cell lines versus HepG2 cells which doesn't expressing HBx (Figure 3B).