SLCO1B1 and hepatocellular carcinoma: Interesting, the rate of apoptosis of HepG2-OATP1B1∗1a cells was significantly higher than those of HepG2-OATP1B1∗1b and HepG2-OATP1B1∗15 cells when the concentrations of sorafenib were 10 and 15 μM. Polymorphisms of OATP1B1 significantly affected the treatment effect of sorafenib in hepatocellular carcinoma, consistent with the notion that certain reduced function variants of SLCO1B1 (the gene encoding OATP1B1) were associated with an increased risk of sorafenib-associated toxicity [11].