AFP and hepatocellular carcinoma: As for the time interval between surveillance tests, both the AASLD and APASL recommend measurement of serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels combined with grey-scale ultrasound (US) of the liver for surveillance of HCC [3, 4] at 6-monthly intervals for HBV carriers and patients with chronic hepatitis, since it has been shown on metaregression analysis to demonstrate a significantly higher sensitivity for early HCC with US every 6 months than with annual surveillance [8, 9].