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Best et al. Hepatoma Res 2020;6:62 Hepatoma Research
DOI: 10.20517/2394-5079.2020.56

Review Open Access

Evaluation and impact of different biomarkers for
early detection of hepatocellular carcinoma

Jan Best , Svenja Sydor , Lars P. Bechmann , Ali Canbay 2
2
2
1
1 Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Infectious Diseases, Otto-von-Guericke University, University Hospital
Magdeburg, Magdeburg 39120, Germany.
2 Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Knappschaftskrankenhaus, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum 44892,
Germany.
Correspondence to: Dr. Jan Best, Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Infectious Diseases, Otto-von-Guericke
University, University Hospital Magdeburg, Leipziger Str. 44, Magdeburg 39120, Germany. E-mail: jan.best@med.ovgu.de

How to cite this article: Best J, Sydor S, Bechmann LP, Canbay A. Evaluation and impact of different biomarkers for early detection
of hepatocellular carcinoma. Hepatoma Res 2020;6:62. http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2394-5079.2020.56

Received: 2 Jun 2020 First Decision: 24 Jun 2020 Revised: 7 Jul 2020 Accepted: 9 Jul 2020 Published: 1 Sep 2020
Academic Editor: Guido Guenther Gerken Copy Editor: Cai-Hong Wang Production Editor: Jing Yu

Received: First Decision: Revised: Accepted: Published: Abstract
Worldwide, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a frequent complication of liver diseases and remains a major cause
Science Editor: Copy Editor: Production Editor: Jing Yu
of cancer-related mortality. In addition, the prevalence of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) as prerequisite
of hepatocarcinogenesis, even in the absence of cirrhosis, is rising rapidly. The early detection of HCC has been
crucial in improving the survival outcomes of those patients. However, in the mostly obese NASH population,
diagnostic sensitivity of ultrasound-based HCC screening approaches is limited. On the other hand, biomarkers for
HCC show promising potential to improve early detection, providing reproducible, investigator-independent results
that can be used either alone or integrated with other biomarkers for scoring models. In the past, validation has
been limited due to a lack of prospective longitudinal cohort studies. At present, large-scale retrospective phase-
III- biomarker- development gives hope for the availability of biomarker-based screening approaches in the near
future. This review focuses on the potential impact of biomarkers on surveillance strategies, potentially allowing
for earlier HCC diagnosis.

Keywords: Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, hepatocellular carcinoma, alpha fetoprotein, AFP-L3, des-gamma-
carboxy-prothrombin, Gender, Age, GALAD-score, Glypican-3, microbiome

© The Author(s) 2020. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use,
sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, for any purpose, even commercially, as long
as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license,
and indicate if changes were made.

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