As shown in Table 4, analysis of the clinical characteristics showed that patients who developed de-novo HCC were significantly older (p = 0.044), had lower creatinine (p = 0.039), higher AFP at the start of DAA therapy (p = 0.001), higher AFP at the end of DAA therapy (p = 0.002), and higher pre-DAA liver stiffness measurement as assessed by transient elastography (p = 0.009), compared to those who have never developed HCC. Here, AFP is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.