CASP8 and neoplasm: Also, the rest of the genes in the signature, including HDAC1, MLST8, SQSTM1, CASP8, RGS19, FOXO1, SPNS1, and HSPB8, were all reported to promote tumor progression either via targeting the mTOR pathway [36], the metabolism pathway [37], the cAMP/PKA/CREB [38] or Akt pathway [39–41] in various types of malignancies, including HCC.