TERT and hepatocellular carcinoma: In normal hepatocytes undergoing hyperproliferation (HCA), CTNNB1 mutations usually occur prior to the telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) promoter mutations, whereas in the case of HCC development in cirrhotic liver (accounting for most of the cases), TERT promoter mutations are observed first, in pre-cancerous stages [22,60,72].