By analyzing a well-characterized cohort of cirrhotic patients with HCC and a control group of cirrhosis with confirmed absence of HCC, we demonstrated that a biologically plausible set of chemokines consisting of CCL2, CCL11, CCL17, CCL20, CXCL1, CXCL5, CXCL9, CXCL10, and CXCL11 might be a useful tool for the discrimination between cirrhosis and HCC development. Here, CXCL1 is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.