Because the proportions of CD4+CD25+FOXP3+ Treg cells and CD4+IL-17+ Th17 cells were markedly higher in the stage III-IV group than in the stage I-II group, we used Spearman correlation analysis to study the correlation between Treg and Th17 cells in the peripheral blood of patients in the HCC group. This evidence concerns the gene FOXP3 and hepatocellular carcinoma.