EIF2AK3 and hepatocellular carcinoma: These results also confirm the findings of Ghassan K Abou-Alfa's group in a phase II clinical trial on treating advanced HCC patients with sorafenib that found that patients with tumors containing higher levels of pERK were more sensitive, or responsive, to sorafenib, supporting the notion that pERK may be a useful biomarker in treating HCC with sorafenib [9].