After NPar pairing analysis and Spearman’s tests, we found that SIRT4 expression in peritumour tissues was negatively associated with the tumour size, pathological grade, T stage, and clinical stage of HCC patients (r = − 0.313, p = 0,003; r = − 0.266, p = 0.011; r = − 0.370, p = 0.001; and r = − 0.390, p = 0.000, respectively). The gene discussed is SIRT4; the disease is neoplasm.