AFP and hepatocellular carcinoma: Further analysis also showed that there were considerable differences of the cut-off values of AFP discriminating early-stage HCC in different subgroups when considering the similar sensitivity and specificity, for example, the ULN in AST ≤ 1× ULN of antiviral and 20 ng/mL in AST ≤ 1× ULN of the non-antiviral groups.