Chen D, et al. - In this investigation, researchers assessed stromal histopathological characteristics and immunostaining expression of early and progressed hepatocellular carcinomas (eHCC, pHCC) for differential diagnosis of low- and high-grade dysplastic nodules (HGDN). In a series of 97 cases, sinusoid capillarization (SC), solitary artery (SA), ductular reaction (DR), stromal invasion and expression of 6 biomarkers (GPC3, HSP70, GS, CD34, CK19, EpCAM) were evaluated. There were significant differences in the differential diagnosis in stromal morphological changes, including SC, DR and SA. In line with the stepwise progression of hepatocarcinogenesis, the immunoreactivity of GPC3, HSP70 and GS increased significantly. For HGDN, eHCC and small HCC diagnosis, the investigators suggested that stromal histopathology characteristics are useful. The GPC3, HSP70 and GS immunostaining panel can also be supplementary.