Several deregulated signaling pathways such as Wnt/β-catenin, AKT, bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4), Oncostatin M (OSM), B lymphoma Mo-MLV insertion region 1 homolog (Bmi-1), transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta), interlukin-6 (IL-6)/STAT, and Hedgehog pathways have been well documented to exert a critical role in inducing stemness and in promoting self-renewal, tumorigenicity and chemoresistance of HCC [21, 22, 33–35]. Here, AKT1 is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.