As shown in Tables 1A and 2A, cell death was not significantly inhibited in the otherwise untreated HCC cells of both cell lines by the reduction of P-ERK1/2 activity by U0126, an inhibitor of the kinase activity of MEK1 (Tables 1A and 2A, column 6, group 5 [G5] vs. group 1 [G1]). This evidence concerns the gene MAP2K1 and hepatocellular carcinoma.