The time to recurrence was 13.2±2.3 vs. 30.6±3.2 months (P = 0.01), and the survival time was 17.2±1.2 vs.57.1±3.1 months (P = 0.001) in the early stage HCC patients who had positive or negative Axl expression in the tumor, respectively. Here, AXL is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.