In the same study, they demonstrated PBX3 drives an essential transcriptional programme, activating the expression of genes critical for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) TIC stemness including CACNA2D1, EpCAM, SOX2 and NOTCH3 and the expression of CACNA2D1 and PBX3 mRNA is predictive of poor prognosis for HCC patients [25]. This evidence concerns the gene SOX2 and hepatocellular carcinoma.