AFP and neoplasm: High SOCS5 expression was positively correlated with malignant features such as high AFP level (χ2 = 3.972, P < 0.05), larger tumor size (χ2 = 7.135, P < 0.01), microvascular invasion (χ2 = 4.178, P < 0.05), portal vein invasion (χ2 = 4.374, P < 0.05) and higher tumor, node, metastasis (TNM) stage (χ2 = 12.270, P < 0.01) (Table 1).