THBS2 and hepatocellular carcinoma: When we stratified the patients based on the same cutoff value of serum TSP-2 level as determined in the derivation cohort, the cumulative HCC rate was significantly higher in the high TSP-2 group (10.7% at 2 years and 19.3% at 4 years) than in the low TSP-2 group (2.6% at 2 years and 8.1% at 4 years) (Figure 4C).