miR-138 expression was downregulated in HCC tissues and cell lines. (A) Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis measured the expression levels of miR-138 in HCC tissues and their corresponding nearby non-tumor liver tissues. (B) The expression of miR-138 in the immortalized human hepatocyte LO2 cell line and HepG2, Hep3B, SMMC-7721, Huh7 and BEL-7402 HCC cell lines. *P<0.05. miR-138, microRNA-138; HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma.