CD34 and hepatocellular carcinoma: To explore the underlying molecular mechanisms, we used IHC to thoroughly investigate the expression of related proteins that have been implicated in HCC, such as Hep-1 (Hepatocyte Paraffin 1), CK18 (cytokeratin-18), CK19 (Cytokeratin 19), CD34 (Cluster Of Differentiation 34), GPC-3 (Glypican-3), SUOX (sulfite oxidase), pERK (phosphorylation extracellular regulated protein kinases), OPN (osteopontin), Muc1 (mucin1), HSP70 (Heat Shock Protein 70), TRIM35 (tripartite motif containing 35), and PKM2 (Pyruvate kinase M2 isozyme)12–22.