Ultrasonography and tests for alpha-fetoprotein are recommended as routine surveillance
tools for the early detection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, ultrasonography
is highly operator dependent and alpha-fetoprotein assays do not yield satisfactory results
in diagnosing early stage HCC. Therefore, the development of more sensitive and specific
tools for early HCC detection is necessary. Recent studies have shown that tumor-associated
antigens (TAAs) elicited by cellular and/or humoral effectors of the immune system are
attractive targets for development of diagnostic and therapeutic tools for human cancers
including HCC. Most importantly, autoantibodies to TAAs can be detected prior to a clinical
diagnosis of HCC. This review focuses on the important features of TAAs and the possible use
of autoantibodies to TAAs as biomarkers for early HCC detection. (J Liver Cancer 2015;15:88-
91)