AFP and hepatocellular carcinoma: Despite the large number of studies suggesting GP73 as a serum marker for HCC, at the present time, the absolute positive markers for HCC are still lacking, and even those characterized by high sensitivity and specificity (such as α-Fetoprotein (AFP), Glypican-3 (GPC3), Des-γ-Carboxy Prothrombin (DCP) and GP73, used alone or in combination) do not widely applied for clinical use.