AFP and hepatocellular carcinoma: To improve early diagnosis and access to potentially curative therapies, HCC surveillance based on semiannual liver ultrasound with or without serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is recommended in patients with cirrhosis or chronic hepatitis B.4However, the effectiveness of HCC surveillance is limited by inadequate risk stratification and suboptimal performance of the current screening modalities for the detection of early-stage tumors.5