Table 2. . Utility of circulating-free tumor cells for diagnosis and prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Study authors	Study numbers	Clinical association	Ref.
Schulze et al.	59 intermediate/advanced HCC 19 cirrhosis or benign liver tumor controls	Diagnosis, overall survival, AFP levels, vascular invasion	[68]
Guo et al.	299 HCC	Diagnosis, response to treatment, disease recurrence, time to recurrence including postsurgery, BCLC stage	[69]
Kelley et al.	20 HCC 10 chronic liver disease controls	Diagnosis, elevated AFP, vascular microinvasion	[70]
Fang et al.	42 HCC	No association with response to TACE	[72]

AFP: Alpha-fetoprotein; HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma.