Moreover, the use of AFP as a tumor marker is limited because of discrepancies among the different methods of measurements5) and the most recent guidelines from the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) discouraged using AFP for surveillance in its update from 20116, however, AFP was shown to detect HCC in subgroups of HCC patients such as patients without HCV infection and in patients with cirrhosis and HIV infection7. This evidence concerns the gene AFP and hepatocellular carcinoma.