As shown in Tables 1 and 2, patients with either deletion spanning pre-S2 gene segment or high percentage of pre-S2 plus pre-S1 + pre-S2 deletion were significantly associated with low density of granzyme B- and high density of Foxp3-expressing cells in HCC tissues (P < 0.0001). This evidence concerns the gene GZMB and hepatocellular carcinoma.