AFP and hepatocellular carcinoma: The AFP may accelerate the proliferation of HCC cells by interacting with the AFP receptor (AFPR), leading to the activation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), the protein kinase B in the serine/threonine protein kinases (AKT) and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathways [11,12].