While PH5CH showed the previously observed inhibition of roughly 50% at high doses, three of the well-differentiated hepatoma cell lines were affected even markedly stronger: HuH6, HuH7 and PLC, the latter of which exhibited an almost complete growth arrest at 8000 IU/ml IFN-β (Fig. 4a). Here, IFNB1 is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.