SPR and hepatocellular carcinoma: According to The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA; Fig. 1a; https://portal.gdc.cancer.gov/) and Gene Expression Omnibus (Fig. 1b; GSE102079, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gds/) datasets, SPR mRNA levels were markedly upregulated in HCC tissues compared to their counterparts.