In addition to the general improved diagnostic performance of DCP, we further found that compared to AFP, DCP had a superior performance in: 1) the identification of HCC from HBV-related non HCC [DCP: AUC 0.837 (95% CI: 0.771–0.903) vs. AFP 0.650 (95%CI: 0.555–0.745)], 2) the differential diagnosis between HCC and liver cirrhosis, regardless of the presence or absence of a cirrhotic background (Fig 4), and 3) the high capacity for identifying HCC with negative AFP (Fig 5). The gene discussed is AFP; the disease is hepatocellular carcinoma.