Interestingly, lots of upregulated genes around HBV-SITE-1 breakpoints in HBV-infected PHH (Fig. 1G) were previously reported relevant to HCC development [43, 44], such as TERT, AFP, ALB, KIF11, and IL8, supporting that HBV-SITE-1 could exert significant regulatory function on HCC progression. Here, CXCL8 is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.