From inception to practice—new insights from the development of a high-performance liquid biopsy test for the detection of early-stage HCC

Semiannual ultrasonography of the liver, with or without estimations of serum α-fetoprotein (AFP), is the standard of care approach to the surveillance of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in at-risk patients. This approach, however, is limited in terms of patient access and the ability of ultrasonography to detect early- or curable-stage HCC.