Ex vivo screening of HCC (hepatocellular carcinoma) using iTRAQ-based proteome profiling and miRNA and mRNA profiling identified 3-MST as one of the up-regulated proteins among ten others; 3-MST expression was about three-fold higher in epithelial cell adhesion molecules expressing (EpCAM+) cancer stem cells compared to normal stem cells. The gene discussed is EPCAM; the disease is cancer.