Title: Telomere and telomerase: Traditional tumor targets regain their applications for liver cancer diagnosis and prognosis. The authors discussed and elaborated on a recent important study by El-Nakeep et al, published in the World Journal of Gastroenterology. That study demonstrated that telomere length in peripheral leukocytes may serve as a liquid biopsy-based biomarker for the diagnosis and short-term prognostic assessment of hepatocellular carcinoma following local therapy. This work highlights a novel and clinically relevant application of telomere biology in the management of hepatocellular carcinoma, and perhaps in cancer more broadly.