CXCL2 and hepatocellular carcinoma: Present study used a case-control design and found an unfavorable association between rs4251545 (IRAK4 p.Ala428Thr) and HBV-related HCC even after adjusting basic social demographic factors, which could be attributed to the diminished signaling activation of NF-κB (IL-6 and IL-8) and chemokines (CXCL-1 and CXCL-2).