PTEN and hepatocellular carcinoma: A broad spectrum of genes have been involved in HCC development related to their genetic or epigenetic alteration, including p53[1], p16, p21[2], p27[3], beta-catenin[4], PTEN[5] and Rb etc. Recent studies on functional genomics of HCC have further revealed that a number of genes with novel sequences and unclarified functions were involved in HCC development or progression [6].