TERT and hepatocellular carcinoma: During our study, we noticed genetic deviations such as mutations in TP53 (Marchio et al., 2019; Lleonart et al., 2005; Marchio et al., 2018), CTNNB1 (MacDonald, Tamai & He, 2009), and TERT (Yang et al., 2011; Akuta et al., 2021), which have been widely studied in circulating tumor DNA in HCC patients.