To our surprise, immunoblot analysis of 17 HCC specimens revealed that both p62 and its S349-phosphorylated form (corresponding to the mouse S351-phosphorylated form) dramatically accumulated in both tumour regions (4/4) and non-tumour regions (1/4) of patients who were positive for anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody (Fig. 8a). This evidence concerns the gene SQSTM1 and hepatocellular carcinoma.