The most important finding form the current study is that the critical biomarkers contributing to carcinogenetic singling from NASH-HCC mice are also identified in the human HCC samples with NASH background, suggesting that the FGF19/FGFR4 axis might be a key driver in certain forms of HCC, such as NASH-HCC. This evidence concerns the gene FGFR4 and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis.