Beneficial Noncancerous Mutations in Liver Disease

Abstract

Chronic liver disease results in fibrosis and cancer. While injury is associated with mutational burden, a recent study (Zhu et al. Cell 2019;177:608-621) highlights that not all positively selected mutations in the liver are precancerous. Indeed, some may be beneficial to the ability of the liver to not only withstand injury , but also to regenerate.