AFP and hepatocellular carcinoma: Univariate analysis showed that age >60, presence of cirrhosis, tumor size ≥20 mm, AFP ≥400 ng/dL, lymph node metastasis, advanced TNM tumor stage and high COL1A1 expression were risk factors for poor prognosis in the patients with HCC; and interestingly, multivariate analysis revealed that akin to age, cirrhosis, tumor size, AFP level and TNM tumor stage, COL1A1 was an independent prognostic factor of OS in patients with HCC (Table 2).