VEGFA and neoplasm: To develop novel cfDNA-based biomarkers as predictors of outcome in HCC patients treated with sorafenib, we evaluated cfDNA concentration itself and genetic alterations in cfDNA focusing on 1) a specific gene, VEGFA amplification based on previous data suggesting VEGFA amplification in tumor tissue as a potential biomarker for sorafenib [6, 8], and 2) genome-wide copy number alterations (CNAs).