The combination of PTX3 with AFP, although slightly increased AUC values, did not significantly increase the performance of PTX3 for discriminating late-stage HCC from chronic hepatitis (AUC 0.965), cirrhosis (AUC 0.944) or chronic HBV infection without HCC (AUC 0.956, Fig. 3, Table S8). This evidence concerns the gene PTX3 and chronic hepatitis.