In terms of pathway information which is important for understanding gene and protein function, the validated targets were significantly enriched in many known oncogenic pathways for HCC, such as focal adhesion, cell cycle, p53 signaling pathway, mTOR signaling pathway, apoptosis, VEGF signaling pathway, etc. (Additional file 4: Figure S1B). The gene discussed is MTOR; the disease is hepatocellular carcinoma.