Increasing early diagnosis of primary liver cancer by improving the compliance with regular screening in the high-risk population

Most patients with primary liver cancer are in the advanced stage at diagnosis and have missed the best timing of treatment, and therefore, increasing the early diagnostic rate of primary liver cancer has great significance in improving patients' prognosis. There is a rapid progress in the research on new serum tumor markers, but their clinical application is still not satisfactory. The screening method of risk re-stratification based on the medical history of individuals at a high risk of primary liver cancer and conventional screening indices and adoption of different ways of screening based on the level of risk can improve patient compliance and thus increase the early diagnostic rate of primary liver cancer. This article reviews the research advances in the current status of early diagnosis of primary liver cancer, the early screening methods in the high-risk population, and early risk prediction.