To further confirm our findings, western blotting was also applied to detect the protein levels of EpCAM and CD13 in 6 HCC peritumoral tissues, 3 of them were positive immunohistochemical staining for both EpCAM and CD13, the rest were negative immunohistochemical staining for both EpCAM and CD13. This evidence concerns the gene ANPEP and hepatocellular carcinoma.