MTOR and cancer: We found that the HCC cell lines studied have demonstrated a similar sensitivity towards mTOR targeting by everolimus alone, with their IC50 ranging from 2.10 to 8.84 μM. Previous studies in other cancers have indicated that mTOR targeting may elicit cytostatic effects rather than effective eradication of tumor cells [33, 34], suggesting that a combination of mTOR targeting with cytotoxic agents may be advantageous.