Fig. 1

CD73 is overexpressed in HCC and indicates poor prognosis. a RT-PCR analysis of CD73 expression levels in 25 HCC tissues and paired non-tumor liver tissues. b Western blot (WB) analysis of CD73 expression levels in 25 HCC tissues and paired non-tumor liver tissues. n = 25; paired t test was used. c Representative immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining of CD73 expression, and comparison of the IHC score between cancerous and non-cancerous tissues (asterisk indicated P < 0.050, n = 189, non-parametric test was used). d WB analysis of CD73 expression levels in matched paratumor, primary-tumor, and recurrent tumor tissues from the same case (n = 8). e Representative IHC staining of CD73 expression in matched paratumor, primary-tumor, and metastatic tissues from the same case (left); comparisons of the IHC score were shown at the right panel (n = 10; non-parametric test was used). f Kaplan–Meier analysis of TTR (left) and overall survival (right) of HCC patients after curative resection according to CD73 expression level. g Recurrence (left) and death (right) incidences of HCC patients according to CD73 expression level. h Circulating tumor cell (CTC) load level of HCC patients according to CD73 expression level (left), and incidence of high CTC load in patients according to CD73 expression levels (right). (i) Expression level of CD73 in different HCC cell lines