AFP and hepatocellular carcinoma: The relationship between FOXP3 expression and clinicopathological features showed that high expression of FOXP3 correlated significantly with low serum AFP level (P = 0.021), absence of vascular invasion (P = 0.002) and early TNM stage (P = 0.019), suggesting an tumor-inhibiting effect of FOXP3 in HCC (Table 1).