CD33 and hepatocellular carcinoma: However, compared to the malignant tumors, benign lesions had higher numbers of intralesional CD33+ or HLA-DR+cells (15.44 CD33+ cells in malignant vs 40.90 in benign lesions, p < 0.01; 34.92 HLA-DR+ cells in HCC-CCA vs 52.10 in benign lesions, p < 0.05; Fig. 2C), indicating an increase in antigen-presenting cells (APCs).