CD1D and hepatocellular carcinoma: In fact, our initial findings reveal a significant surge in alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), a biomarker for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), in CD1d-deficient female mice serum compared to Balb/c female mice following 8 months of treatment with DEN + HFCD (9.134 ± 1.957* μg/ml of AFP in CD1d-KO female mice, n = 10, vs. 3.602 ± 0.641 μg/ml of AFP in Balb/c female mice, n = 7, p < 0.01).