TP53 and hepatocellular carcinoma: The presence of the 249ser TP53 mutation, associated with aflatoxin exposure in experimental systems (Aguilar et al. 1993; Mace et al. 1997), is commonly observed in HCC patients from high aflatoxin exposure regions (Aguilar et al. 1994) and is strongly associated with HCC in case–control and prospective epidemiologic studies (Jackson et al. 2003; Kirk et al. 2000, 2005).