CCL2 and hepatocellular carcinoma: In a first step, we investigated the association of serum levels of 12 pro-inflammatory chemokines with the presence of HCC: In HCC patients, 9 out of 12 chemokines showed significantly increased serum levels compared to cirrhotic patients without HCC (CCL2, CCL11, CCL17, CCL20, CXCL1, CXCL5, CXCL9, CXCL10, CXCL11) (Figure 1A).