Fig. 1

Clinicopathological features of K19-positive HCC. a A sample of K19-positive HCC specimen stained with hematoxylin and eosin (HE) and K19 immunostaining. Original magnifications: ×100 (HE), ×200 (CK19). b Poorly differentiated HCC more frequently expressed K19. c Overall survival rate and d disease-free survival rate after primary curative hepatectomy of HCC patients with or without K19 expression. K19-positive group had significantly lower overall survival rate than K19-negative group. Disease -free survival rate was not correlated with K19 expression. However, during an early phase, disease -free survival curve was lower in K19-positive group than in K19-negative group. The number of patients at risk at each time interval in K-19 positive group is showed beside each graph