Furthermore, the minor alleles of the TERT (rs2736098*A allele and rs2736100*T allele) were substantially associated with elevated risk of HCC compared with cancer-free controls [TERT (rs2736098*A allele): 47.2% vs. 32.8%, OR = 1.83, 95% CI = 1.26–2.67, p-value = 0.002; and TERT (rs2736100*T allele): 56.9% vs. 45.6%, OR = 1.58, 95% CI = 1.09–2.28, p-value = 0.016, respectively], (Fig. 2A & 2B). Here, TERT is linked to cancer.