Our results revealed that HF triggered the activation of caspase‐9, caspase‐3 and subsequent cleavage of PARP1 (Figure 2C, D), as well as the result that the caspase inhibitor reversed HF‐induced apoptosis in SMMC‐7721 and HepG2 cells (Figure 2E, F), suggesting that HF could induce caspase‐dependent apoptosis in HCC cells. Here, PARP1 is linked to hydrops fetalis.