AKR1B10 and hepatocellular carcinoma: In 255 HCC patients who underwent curative hepatectomy, high AKR1B10 expression was significantly associated with a lack of invasion of the major portal vein, a lack of intrahepatic metastasis, lower tumor stages, and lower AFP levels, which was found to be an independent predictor of both longer recurrence-free survival and longer disease-specific survival 24.