A study demonstrated that ERα and its two splice variants are differentially expressed in the liver: healthy liver has high expression of ERα-36; patients with cirrhosis have moderate expression levels of ERα-66, ERα-46, and ERα-36; patients with HCC do not express ERα-66, but have a moderate ERα-46 expression and a high ERα-36 expression (258). This evidence concerns the gene ESR1 and hepatocellular carcinoma.