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Costa et al. Hepatoma Res 2018;4:35 I http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2394-5079.2018.06 Page 9 of 11

as a diagnostic tool for in vivo assessment of the degree of histological differentiation of HCC, since higher
values of tracer uptake were correlated with more poorly differentiated HCC. Our methods and animal
model, NAFLD, which exhibited progression to advanced HCC, will be useful for further studies of hepatic
carcinogenesis.

DECLARATIONS
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Mariana Maciel Torres and Edson Pereira da Costa for assistance with handling animals
during this research. We want to thank Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals for the donation of sorafenib.

Authors’ contributions
Concept and design: Oliveira CP, Stefano JT, Carrilho FJ
Data acquisition: Costa FGB, Levy CS
Ultrasound work: Chammas MC
Pathology work: Pereira IVA, Cogliati B
Nuclear medicine work: Carneiro CG, Faria DP
Data analysis: Costa FGB, Stefano JT, Oliveira CP, Faria DP
Statistical analysis, literature search and manuscript preparation: Costa FGB
Manuscript editing: Costa FGB, Levy CS, Stefano JT, Oliveira CP, Faria DP
Manuscript review: Costa FGB, Stefano JT, Oliveira CP, Faria DP

Availability of data and materials
The data and materials could be obtained from the corresponding author.

Financial support and sponsorship
This work was supported by bursaries of Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior
(CAPES) to Fernando Gomes de Barros Costa.

Conflicts of interest
All authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval and consent to participate
This study was approved by the ethical committee for animal use of the University of Sao Paulo Medical
School (protocol 108/14).

Consent for publication
Not applicable.

Copyright
© The Author(s) 2018.

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