AFP and hepatocellular carcinoma: For patients with antiviral therapy, ULN and 100 ng/mL might be the optimal cut-offs of AFP for detecting early-stage HCC in patients with AST ≤ 1× ULN and AST > 1× ULN, respectively, while in patients without antiviral therapy, the corresponding cut-offs might be 20 ng/mL and 200 ng/mL, respectively.