A European research team, for example, reported that multiple serum metabolites, phosphatidylcholines, sphingomyelins, triglycerides, amino acids, and cholesteryl esters, are heavily altered in Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and that several of these metabolites exhibit enhanced diagnostic sensitivity and specificity, compared to alpha-fetoprotein(AFP) (9). This evidence concerns the gene AFP and hepatocellular carcinoma.