AFP and liver cancer: Applying the same eligibility criteria in the same ethnic group, the discovery and validation cohorts in the study are similar in a variety of aspects regarding age, gender percentage, HCC etiology, liver cirrhosis, Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage, mean tumor size, tumor number, tumor encapsulation type (complete or none), histological grade, and AFP level, except for types of resection (anatomic or non-anatomic) (p = 0.046).