In our previous study, we performed immunohistochemical staining of 57 HCC tissues and confirmed that α-SMA-positive CAFs in the HCC microenvironment were mainly distributed in the HCC fibrous septum, fibrous capsule, and hepatic blood sinusoids; we also observed the presence of α-SMA-positive HCC cells near the blood sinusoid in some HCC tissues (data not published) (Fig. 1). Here, ACTA1 is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.