For early-stage HCC detection, AFP and PMCA signal again had a statistically comparable AUROC of 0.81 (95% CI 0.7–0.93, P = 0.0002) and 0.91 (95% CI 0.84–0.98, P < 0.0001), respectively (Fig. 6a and Supplementary Table S2). Here, AFP is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.