Postoperative circulating tumor cell counts (>2/mL and >5/mL) and changes in circulating tumor cell counts may be independent prognostic indicators of progression-free survival in patients with HBV-related HCC, with the reduction in the number of circulating tumor cells showing better predictive performance.33 A clinical trial34 found that elevated heme-oxygenase 1 expression is associated with favorable disease-free survival in patients with HBV HCC who have undergone hepatectomy. Here, HMOX1 is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.