PNPLA3 and hepatocellular carcinoma: Similar to the PNPLA3 I148M variant, the rs58542926 C > T variant in the TM6SF2 gene, encoding an E167K mutation, was shown to be associated with hepatic steatosis and also with increased risk of progressive liver disease and fibrosis [32,33,34,35], but its direct role in HCC predisposition is disputed [35,36].