IFNB1 and chronic hepatitis C virus infection: For example, IFN-β has a stronger antitumor effect than IFN-α in the early stage hepatocelular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with chronic hepatitis C. While IFN-α has been shown to induce apoptosis in HCC cell lines [99–101], Murata and co-authors showed that IFN-β had a superior antiproliferative effect as compared to IFN-α on three HCC cell lines, inducing cell cycle change and apoptosis, and more strongly upregulating ISGs, like Fas antigen and human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-class I molecules [102].