More interestingly, even though the expression level of TREM2 was upregulated in human hepatocellular carcinoma tissues, after administrating carcinogen diethylnitrosamine, TREM2-/- mice developed more liver tumors and displayed more deteriorative liver damage, inflammation, oxidative stress and hepatocyte proliferation, and then Esparza-Baquer et al. found that TREM2 played a protective role in the biological process of hepatocarcinogenesis via different pleiotropic effects (85). Here, TREM2 is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.