The present study aimed to determine the expression of CCL23 in HCC cell lines, and to further investigate the influence of CCL23 and TFAP4 on HCC proliferation, invasion and angiogenesis, in order to determine whether CCL23/TFAP4 may serve as a functional prognostic biomarker and a promising therapeutic target for HCC. Here, TFAP4 is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.