HPSE and hepatocellular carcinoma: To elucidate the role of HPSE rs12331678 and rs12503843 gene polymorphisms in the HCC patients’ clinicopathologic status, the association of clinical features and distribution of HPSE SNP polymorphisms in HCC subjects were evaluated, including Child-Pugh score, focal lesion size and number, HCV infection (anti-HCV), and the common HCC clinical-pathological features including AFP, ALT, and AST.