Spearman correlation analysis revealed a significant positive association between the infiltration density of inflammatory fibroblasts (α-SMA+PDGFRA+CAFs) and peritumoral collagen deposition area (r = 0.686, p = 0.001) (Fig. 3M), suggesting this subset may directly drive hepatic fibrosis via ECM remodeling. Here, PDGFRA is linked to Hepatic fibrosis.