CASP8 and hepatocellular carcinoma: Then, the potential interactions among these pyroptosis-related genes were analyzed by the PPI network, and the results revealed that CASP3, CASP8, PYCARD, IL1B, SQSTM1, and BIRC3 were identified as core genes in the pyroptosis process of HCC (the minimum required interaction score for the PPI analysis was set at 0.9; Supplementary Figure S1B).