Exploration into common glucose transporters using TCGA data revealed that SLC2A1 (glucose transporter 1) and SLC5A2 (sodium/glucose cotransporter 2) were significantly overexpressed in HCC tissues (P < 0.001) compared to normal liver tissues (Fig. 7a and Supplementary Fig. 4a, b). Here, SLC2A1 is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.