Most interestingly, the only significantly downregulated microRNA in fast HCCs was mir-203a, which has been reported to act as an anti-oncogene to suppress HCC tumorigenesis and to be a marker of poor prognosis of HCC when downregulated.40, 41 Loss of miR-203a results in activation of EMT in normal hepatocytes and HCC tumor cells and is associated with prominent downregulation of E-cadherin expression, as we showed in fast HCCs.40 Here, CDH1 is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.