PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - PHILLIPE ABREU AU - RAPHAELLA FERREIRA AU - VICTOR MINELI AU - MAURICIO ALVES RIBEIRO AU - FABIO GONÇALVES FERREIRA AU - RODRIGO MARTINEZ DE MELLO VIANNA AU - FLAVIO DANIEL SAAVEDRA TOMASICH AU - LUIZ ARNALDO SZUTAN TI - Alternative Biomarkers to Predict Tumor Biology in Hepatocellular Carcinoma AID - 10.21873/anticanres.14682 DP - 2020 Dec 01 TA - Anticancer Research PG - 6573--6784 VI - 40 IP - 12 4099 - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/40/12/6573.short 4100 - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/40/12/6573.full SO - Anticancer Res2020 Dec 01; 40 AB - Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most frequent primary malignant liver tumor, with more than 800,000 new cases diagnosed each year and with high mortality, ranking fourth in the world in cancer deaths. The worst prognosis is related to the late diagnosis, in which the tumor is at an advanced stage and curative treatments are not efficient in terms of increasing overall survival. Currently, screening and monitoring tests based on current guidelines have limited accuracy, which points to the need for the development of new biomarkers that improve HCC detection as well as its early diagnosis. This review will discuss the five phases of development of a biomarker, from its discovery to its application in clinical practice, and indicate the main biomarkers per development phase. Potential emerging technologies such as “Radiomics”, “Proteomics” and “Metabolomics” will also be discussed, which should serve as tools for the elucidation of tumor heterogeneity, as well as provide data for future studies on HCC biomarkers.