AFP and hepatocellular carcinoma: In a next step, we performed extensive correlation analysis between serum miR-193a-5p and various standard laboratory parameters including markers of liver dysfunction (bilirubin, AST, ALT, GGT, ALP), systemic inflammation (leucocyte count and CRP), renal dysfunction (creatinine), established HCC tumor markers (AFP) as well as hemoglobin and the platelet count (serum levels are displayed in S1 Table).