Germline variants in HCC patients were recurrently found in only eight candidate genes including DMBT1, RAD50, ATRIP, BLM, ERCC2, LIG3, MSH3 and SLX4; however, only DMBT1, RAD50 and LIG3 germline variants showed a significant difference in HCC patients compared to PMC (Table 3). Here, SLX4 is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.