Comparison of AFP-L3 and p53 Antigen Concentration with Alpha-Fetoprotein as Serum Markers for Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has the worst prognosis among all major cancers, largely due to the lack of sensitive diagnostic markers. We aimed to compare three HCC tumor markers, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), p53, and AFP-L3%, to evaluate whether measuring serum p53 levels and AFP-L3% has an additive diagnostic value for detection of HCC.

Methods: A total of 86 patients with chronic liver diseases were included.