In this retrospective cohort study involving 1197 patients undergoing liver resection for HCC, we developed and validated a novel preoperative risk-scoring system—the CAP score—based on the following three preoperative objective laboratory parameters: type-IV collagen ≥ 7.5 ng/mL, serum Alb ≤ 3.4 g/dL, and PT-INR ≥ 1.26. This evidence concerns the gene ALB and hepatocellular carcinoma.