To further stress the relevance of the proposed approach for the development of novel liquid biopsy techniques, we compared the classification performances of our spectral biomarkers with those of serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), a glycoprotein produced in early fetal life by the liver and by a variety of tumors, which is currently the most widely used circulating marker in HCC with prognosis and risk of recurrence purposes. This evidence concerns the gene AFP and hepatocellular carcinoma.