EPO and hepatocellular carcinoma: Specifically in females, seven cytokines and chemokines significantly increased (granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor [GM-CSF], p = 0.001; IL-13, p = 0.04; KC/CXCL1, p = 0.04; LIX/CXCL5, p = 0.004; MIP-1α/CCL3, p = 0.004; MIP-1β/CCL4, p = 0.0004; TIMP-1, p = 0.04) and four cytokines and chemokines significantly decreased (CCL22, p = 0.0004; EPO, p < 0.0001; IL-11, p = 0.04; MIP-3β/CCL19, p = 0.03) during HCC.