Although hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is an important cause of HCC, we did not observe an effect of HBV on the expression of CD133/CD44 using two hepatitis B surface antigens, HBsAg and HBeAg, as indicators in the present study, indicating the non-viral origin of HCC with high expression of these markers [42]. The gene discussed is CD44; the disease is hepatocellular carcinoma.