CD34 and hepatocellular carcinoma: We then performed triple immunofluorescent staining of these markers with paired normal adjacent tissues and tumors derived from NSCLC and HCC patients respectively, showing that CD146 was expressed in both CD34 positive (+ve) vascular endothelial cells and αSMA/PDGFRβ+ve pericytes within normal adjacent tissues and tumors derived from NSCLC and HCC patients, while ~65–72% percentage of blood vessels were CD146 and α-SMA double positive in both normal adjacent tissues and tumors derived from NSCLC and HCC patients respectively (Fig. 1a–f and Supplementary fig. 2a, b).