SPINK1 and neoplasm: In the UALCAN analysis, the transcription level of SPINK1 was ranked within the top 18 out of all the overexpressed genes in HCC tissues (Supplementary Figure S2) and was significantly higher in the HCC tissue specimens of stage I–III compared to stage IV tumor and grades I–IV (p < 0.05; Supplementary Figures S1E,F).