HMGB1 and hepatocellular carcinoma: Furthermore, in the clinical setting of HMGB1-related immunosuppression, immunohistochemical analysis of biopsy specimens from patients with HCC and cirrhosis (n=149), revealed that those patients with the most aggressive stage of disease and lowest survival rates (n = 59) exhibited significantly higher levels of peritumoral expression of HMGB1 and a greater influx of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) [135].