Obesity-associated production of inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα), induce repeated liver injury and compensatory proliferation, which might lead to aberrant stabilization and activation of “repair signals” such as signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3)-dependent oncogenic signaling pathways and initiation and progression of HCC (35–37). Here, TNF is linked to obesity due to melanocortin 4 receptor deficiency.