Furthermore, the degree of POSTN expression also showed a significant positive correlation with that of collagen-1 (r = 0.8445, P < 0.0001), Ki-67 (r = 0.1928, P = 2 × 10−4), Snail (r = 0.6395, P < 0.0001), and Sch3 (r = 0.1121, P = 0.0304) in TCGA-HCC cohorts (Fig. 3g). This evidence concerns the gene POSTN and hepatocellular carcinoma.