Our criteria for selecting these HCC samples were based on several factors: (i) the demonstration of reduced DDX5 protein levels in grades II-III HCCs [7]; (ii) the association of MIR17HG RNA, which encodes the proto-oncogenic miR17 ~ 92 cluster, with poor prognosis HCC [42, 43]; and (iii) the regulatory role of miR17 ~ 92 and its paralog miR106b ~ 25 in suppressing the expression of several tumor suppressors, including DDX5 [11]. This evidence concerns the gene DDX5 and neoplasm.