AFP and neoplasm: Conventional prognostic models for HCC mainly involve integration of clinicopathological factors such as tumor size, number of lesions, microvascular invasion, and cirrhosis, supplemented by serum levels of certain single markers such as α−fetoprotein (AFP) and des−gamma carboxy−prothrombin (DCP) (Marrero et al., 2009; Chan et al., 2018).