ADIPOQ and Cirrhosis: Although the molecular and biological mechanisms explaining the association between increased adiponectin and reduced survival in HCC patients are not clearly understood, possible explanations for this association includes reduced liver function e.g. elevated liver enzymes (Wang et al., 2014), since the adiponectin level reflects the severity of liver fibrosis (Liu et al., 2009) and cirrhosis (Kaser et al., 2005) which are correlated with consequent poorer prognosis.