ULK1 and hepatocellular carcinoma: While no differences in autophagy activation were observed between virus and no virus-infected tissues, autophagy was less activated only in HBV-related HCC compared to M. An immunohistochemistry study demonstrated that the ULK1 overexpression in HCC and adjacent peritumoral tissues, without a statistically significant difference between the two groups, was related to tumor size and worse survival time [51].