Understanding that malignant cells differ from normal cells based, among other traits, on their propensity to proliferate without terminal differentiation; we posit that the observed aberration in PDK1 expression and/or activity permits and facilitates the occurrence of perpetual/unlimited proliferation of HCC lineage-committed progenitors while deterring terminal differentiation of the cancerous cells [28]. Here, PDK1 is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.