In the GSE14520 data set, patients in the high hypoxia score and low hypoxia score groups differed significantly in AFP level, degree of cirrhosis, tumour size, TNM stage, Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage, Cancer of the Liver Italian Program (CLIP) stage and multinodular status, suggesting that a high hypoxia score is an unfavourable factor for HCC patients and can indicate progression (Tables S4 and S5). Here, AFP is linked to liver cancer.