AFP and liver cancer: Concurrently, on account of the variegated metabolic states exhibited by liver cancer at diverse stages, coupled with the low sensitivity of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) in detecting early-stage liver cancer, researchers have carried out an analysis of the serum metabolomics of liver cancer patients during the early and late phases of the disease, discovering that the levels of alanine, glutamine, and lactate in the serum of patients with late-stage liver cancer are lower than those of patients with early-stage liver cancer.