Furthermore, there was no significant correlation between the serum Egfl7 and AFP levels (Spearman rank correlation coefficient: r = 0.154, P = 0.396) and their diagnosis results were not identical (kappa = 0.147, P = 0.207), suggesting Egfl7 and AFP combination could be helpful to improve the efficacy of early HCC diagnosis. This evidence concerns the gene EGFL7 and hepatocellular carcinoma.