AFP and hepatocellular carcinoma: When these findings were combined with the specific data of HCC patients, low ITIH1 expression was found to be correlated with advanced BCLC stage (P = 0.00125), advanced TNM stages (P = 0.00172), high AFP expression (P = 0.00774), large tumor size (P = 0,0132), and increased vascular invasion (P = 0.0194, Figure 7C).