HK2 and hepatocellular carcinoma: Recently, Chen et al. have indicated that HBx induces aerobic glycolysis via the NF-κBp65/hexokinase 2 (HK2) pathway to overproduce lactate, increasing hepatocyte proliferation through PI3K (phosphatidylinositide 3-kinase)/Akt signaling and resulting in HBV-related HCC (Fig. 1B) [30].