AFP and cancer: For instance, AFP has been regarded as a marker for hepatocellular carcinoma but its elevated level was also found in other conditions such as pregnancy, hepatitis, and liver cirrhosis.[19] In addition, as auxiliary diagnosis of pancreatic and gastric cancers, CA19-9 is limited by the relatively low sensitivity and insufficient information.[20,21] Therefore, new indicators with higher sensitivity and specificity for cancer detection are in urgent demand.