As the study subjects were restricted to advanced fibrosis (FIB-4 score over 3.25) or cirrhosis (APRI over 2.0), the tendencies of higher pre-treatment NKG2D expression remained (Fig 3B), and the expression did not differ significantly when stratified by previous HCC history (Fig 3C). Here, KLRK1 is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.