PNPLA2 and hepatocellular carcinoma: Driven by the evidence that ATGL is the major enzyme for hepatic TGs hydrolysis [18, 23] and that liver-specific ATGL deficiency causes hepatic steatosis [21], a contributing risk factor for HCC onset [24], the expression levels of the PNPLA2 gene (hereinafter referred to as ATGL) were analyzed in human HCC biopsies.