Previous studies, such as those by Zhang et al., have reported significant upregulation of cell cycle-related genes in HCV-related HCC, including CDK1, CCNB1, CDC20, NEK2, AURKA, RACGAP1, CDKN2A, CDKN2B, CDKN3, RRM2, and ASPM [39]. Here, NEK2 is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.