Notably, the performance of LC-SPIK did not diminish in detecting early-stage HCC (AUC = 0.832, 95% CI 0.744–0.899) (Figure 2B), while it increased in patients with false-negative AFP results (AUC = 0.908, 95% CI 0.823–0.961) (Figure 2C). Here, AFP is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.