AFP and hepatocellular carcinoma: There is a high incidence of HCC, about 50.5% of new patients and 51.4% HCC-related deaths globally occur in China every year.[2] In current clinical practice, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and imaging characteristics are the most commonly used modality for diagnosis and monitoring of HCC.[3,4] However, AFP cannot be effective in differentiating HCC and other liver diseases, suggesting that the effect of screening is generally in the early diagnosis of HCC.[5] As many as 40% of patients with normal AFP levels cannot be accurately detected in early stage and depends on definitive imaging results.