FSTL3 and hepatocellular carcinoma: Subsequently, 22 immune cell profiles for HCC samples were generated for assessing the relationship of FSTL3 levels with macrophage polarization (Fig. 7D) and we observed that the expression level of FSTL3 was directly associated with M2 macrophage abundance (r = 0.274, P < 0.001, GSE36376; r = 0.196, P = 0.016, GSE102079; Fig. 7E).