In discriminating HCC without cirrhosis from LC, the AUC of DCP (0.871, 95% CI 0.828–0.915) was much better than that of AFP (0.711, 95% CI 0.647–0.774), and the combination of the two markers had a similar AUC (0.875, 95% CI 0.831–0.919) (Fig 4E, Table 1). Here, AFP is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.