The aim of this project is to investigate whether the proliferative speeds of cultured cells using our method can be integrated into Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging classification for the possibility of personalized treatment and prediction the outcomes in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients.

A total of at least 150 patients will be included and followed for at least one year. The proliferative speeds of cultured cells will be classified into (a) rapid proliferation of HCC cells with or without concomitant rapid proliferation of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), (b) rapid proliferation of CAFs alone, and (c) slow proliferation three groups. The definition for the rapid proliferation of cultured cells fits at least one of the following two items: (1) growth area of cultured cells at the 15th-28th day > two times of the growth area measured at the 14th day, or (2) growth area of cultured cells at the 15th-28th day > 70% growth area of the 25 cm flask. The GraphPad Prism software version 4.03 (GraphPad Software, Inc., La Jolla, CA, USA) is applied for statistical analysis. Influence of the proliferative speeds of cultured cells on survival and cancer progression will be calculated by the logrank test. The statistical significance is defined as P < 0.05.

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Patients are proven to have HCC based on fine-needle aspiration of the tumor.
2. Patient have residual specimens obtained from fine-needle aspiration of the tumor.
3. Patients agree to participate this study after fully explanation.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Patients are not proven to have HCC based on fine-needle aspiration of the tumor.
2. Patient do not have residual specimens obtained from fine-needle aspiration of the tumor.
3. Patients do not agree to participate this study after fully explanation.

Patients who are proven to have HCC based on fine-needle aspiration of the tumor and also have residual specimens for culture are included.