Compared to the baseline category of serum AFP ≤3.0 ng/mL (which was the lowest quartile), relatively low serum AFP levels in the second quartile (>3.0–5.0 ng/mL), the third quartile (>5.0–10.2), the 75th-90th percentile (>10.2–28.9), as well as higher levels >90th percentile (>28.9) were associated with high and progressively increasing HCC risk. This evidence concerns the gene AFP and hepatocellular carcinoma.