Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has a very high incidence and fatality rate

and in most cases

it is already at an advanced stage when diagnosed. Therefore

early prevention and detection of HCC are two of the most effective strategies. However

the methods recommended in the practice guidelines for the detection of HCC cannot guarantee high sensitivity and specificity except for the liver biopsy

which is known as the “gold standard”. In this review

we divided the detection of HCC into pre-treatment diagnosis and post-treatment monitoring

and found that in addition to the traditional imaging detection and liver biopsy

alpha fetoprotein (AFP)

lens culinaris-agglutinin-reactive fraction of AFP (AFP-L3)

protein induced by vitamin K absence or antagonist-II (PIVKA-II) and other biomarkers are excellent biomarkers for HCC

especially when they are combined together. Most notably

the emerging liquid biopsy shows great promise in detecting HCC. In addition

lactic dehydrogenase (LDH)

suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS) and other relevant biomarkers may become promising biomarkers for HCC post-treatment monitoring. Through the detailed introduction of the diagnostic technology of HCC

we can have a detailed understanding of its development process and then obtain some enlightenment from the diagnosis

to improve the diagnostic rate of HCC and reduce its mortality.