MTOR and hepatocellular carcinoma: Moreover, alterations in p53 activation and in proteins involved in cell cycle control (CDKN2A), as well as aberrant activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and phosphoinositide 3-kinase-AKT-mammalian target of rapamycin (PI3K-AKT-mTOR) pathways have been usually described in HCC of different etiologies [8].