We further analyzed the methylation level of CpG islands located in the promoter region of PHLDA2 (region from −1500 nucleotide upstream to the transcription start site) in the TCGA database, and the results showed that the methylation level of PHLDA2 was lower in HCC tissues than in normal liver tissues (Fig. 2E). This evidence concerns the gene PHLDA2 and hepatocellular carcinoma.