A recent study has explored the mechanism of ALT-mediated apoptosis in liver cancer cells HepG2 and found that through down-regulating reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated alpha serine/threonine-protein kinase (AKT) activation and weakening PTEN induced putative kinase 1 (PINK1)-mediated cell mitophagy, ALT treatment could induce apoptosis in HepG2 cells (Kang et al., 2019). This evidence concerns the gene PINK1 and liver cancer.