Cytotoxic CD8 T cells (CD8+GNLY+) were found to be a major source of cytokines and chemokines secretion in liver cancers with low clonality, while proliferative pre-exhaustion T cells (CD8+MKI67+CXCL13+) were the main source in liver cancers with high clonality. This evidence concerns the gene GNLY and liver cancer.