ACTA1 and hepatocellular carcinoma: In the SVR-non-HCC group, the Sirius red-positive area decreased significantly from 17.5 ± 6.7% before IFN-based therapy to 7.7 ± 4.6% at the second biopsy, after SVR (p = 0.02, Fig 4A), with the α-SMA-positive area decreasing from 18.7 ± 11.5% before IFN-based therapy to 11.2 ± 5.2% at the second biopsy, although these differences in α-SMA-positive area were not significant (p = 0.23, Fig 4B).