IL6 and hepatocellular carcinoma: Earlier studies have reported the role of sex hormones (Liu et al., 2017; Yu et al., 2003; Ma et al., 2008; McGlynn et al., 2015), transcription factors FoxA1/A2 (Li et al., 2012), and cytokine Il6 signaling (Naugler et al., 2007) in regulating the sex difference in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but the role of metabolic pathways remains poorly understood.