CD8A and hepatocellular carcinoma: Since 2 years has been widely considered as a cut-off point for distinct mechanisms (metastasis or de novo) of intrahepatic recurrence after resection of HCC,[21] we separated patients into early and late-phase disease-free survival groups, and found that high infiltration of CD3+ and CD8+ cells correlated with better late-phase disease-free survival, but not early-phase.