AFP and hepatocellular carcinoma: The first study focusing on Cx43′s expression levels and characteristics and on their involvement on HCC metastatic capacity was conducted by Wang et al., who used 38 HBV-HCC tissue samples investigating Cx43 expression in correlation with vascular epithelial growth factor (VEGF), a-fetoprotein (AFP) levels, prognosis, and metastatic potential [149].