Early serum screening for hepatocellular-carcinoma in patients with hepatitis

Background Chronic hepatitis is an important problem worldwide, associating high morbidity and mortality, and hepatocellular-carcinoma is one of its most severe complications. Multiple studies have tried to identify biomarkers that would allow an earlier detection of hepatocellularcarcinoma (HCC), compared to imagistic exams. Such biomarkers are represented by alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), des-gcarboxy prothrombin (DPC), and the lens culinaris agglutinin-reactive fraction of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP-L3).