Although the exact transcriptional mechanisms by which FOXM1 participates in HCC formation are incompletely understood, the present study identified a gene cluster encoding nine transcription factors that may trigger cascades of the cell cycle pathway in HCC initiation and progression, with AURKB [29] and PTTG1 [30] confirmed as transcriptional targets of FOXM1 and E2F1 showing upregulation of FOXM1 protein expression in liver cancer cells in a nude mice model [31]. This evidence concerns the gene E2F1 and hepatocellular carcinoma.