Fig. 1

Representative immunostaining of (A) CD163+ and (B) CD68+ macrophages, and (C) CD117+ mast cells in TC (400×) and TIM (200×) of HCC. The red arrows point to the adjoined or partially attached macrophages to the boundaries of sinusoidal like spaces. The green arrow points to CD68+ macrophage in the lumen of sinusoid-like space. The dashed line shows the border between tumor (on the left) and non-tumor tissue (on the right). Abbreviations: HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma; TC, tumor center; TIM, tumor invasive margin, IM, inner margin (on the left) and OM, outer margin (on the right)