The areas under the curves of GPC3, miR-122 and AFP for diagnosis of early-stage HCC from HCV-positive controls (LC+CH) were 0.850 (95% CI 0.781-0.920), 0.785 (95% CI 0.699-0.871) and 0.754 (95% CI 0.665-0.844) respectively. The gene discussed is AFP; the disease is cyclic hematopoiesis.