In patients with very early/early HCC the diagnostic accuracy of each biomarker was almost equal (AUROC 65.8% for AFP and 65% for PIVKA‐II) and did not improve with the combination of them (AUROC 64.2%) whereas there was an additive, complementary effect of PIVKA‐II to AFP in the HCC diagnosis in intermediate and advanced stages, according to the results of our study. Here, AFP is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.