Hepatitis B virus core-related antigen is a serum prediction marker for hepatocellular carcinoma

Serum hepatitis B virus (HBV)-DNA is a useful measurement for chronic hepatitis B (CH-B) patients and can help determine when to start antiviral therapies, such as nucleos(t)ide analogues (NAs) and interferon (IFN), as well as monitoring of the antiviral effects of therapy. It is reported that the development of advanced chronic liver disease, cirrhosis, and the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) can be prevented by decreasing serum HBV-DNA levels. Serum HBV-related markers can be conveniently measured along with other serum liver function markers such as AST, ALT, rGTP, and ALP at regular intervals from small serum samples.