The proliferative type is common in HBV-induced liver cancer, with low degree of differentiation, high alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) expression, more vascular invasion, and worse prognosis; this type of liver cancer is characterized by increased inactivating mutations in TP53 and AXIN1, and at the same time, cell cycle, mTOR, RAS-MAPK, and MET signaling pathways that promote survival are all activated. Here, AFP is linked to liver cancer.