SNP presence on two noncoding genes (MT-RNR1 and MT-RNR2) encoded by mitochondrial DNA, mainly responsible for mitochondrial protein synthesis, were found to act as prognostic markers especially in hepatocellular carcinoma; the poor prognosis of HCC is largely due to high rates of tumor metastasis. Here, MT-RNR1 is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.