In terms of etiological factors, high-expression of DCN (OS: HR = 0.31, P = 0.028; PFS: HR = 0.32, P = 0.002), IGJ (OS: HR = 0.61, P = 0.014; PFS: HR =0.43, P = 0.018), CXCL14 (OS: HR = 0.21, P = 0.007; PFS: HR =0.44, P = 0.019), and LAMA2 (OS: HR = 0.31, P = 0.029; PFS: HR = 0.36, P = 0.004) associated with both better OS and PFS of HCC patients with a history of hepatitis B; and upregulation of CCL21 (HR = 0.47, P = 0.031) and FCN3 (HR = 0.49, P = 0.044) associated with better PFS of these patients. Here, DCN is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.