AFP and hepatocellular carcinoma: To exclude potential confounders with an impact on the OS following tumor resection or LT, we subsequently performed uni- and multivariate Cox-regression analyses including several clinical factors (age, sex, ECOG PS, BMI), pathological parameters (tumor size and tumor grading) as well as several laboratory markers including parameters of systemic inflammation (leucocyte count and CRP), liver (bilirubin and AST) and renal (creatinine) dysfunction, established HCC tumor markers (AFP) and others (Table 2).