The mRNA expression levels of Shh, Gli1 and FAK in 20 HCC patients were determined by qRT-PCR. A, D and G represent the mRNA expression levels of Shh, Gli1, and FAK in HCC or in the adjacent normal liver tissues, respectively; B, E and H represent the mRNA expression levels of Shh, Gli1 and FAK in the HCC tissues with high (III, IV) or low (I, II) TNM stages, respectively; C, F and I represent the mRNA expression levels of Shh, Gli1, and FAK in HCC tissues with or without distant metastasis, respectively. The mRNA expression levels were normalized against β-actin.