TP53 and hepatocellular carcinoma: A major barrier to the implementation of effective individualized treatment based on the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage is the high degree of heterogeneity exhibited by HCC at the genomic, molecular, and histological levels [1, 2].The P53 gene, a well - characterized tumor suppressor, typically functions to induce cell cycle arrest, senescence or apoptosis, and facilitate DNA repair [3].