tokens: We discuss conventional and promising proteomic biomarkers of HCC such as AFP , lens culinaris agglutinin ( LCA)-reactive L3 glycoform of AFP ( AFP - L3 ) , des - gamma - carboxyprothrombin ( DCP ) , osteopontin ( OPN ) , glypican-3 ( GPC3 ) , dickkopf-1 ( DKK1 ) , midkine ( MDK ) , and squamous cell carcinoma antigen ( SCCA ) and highlight their functional significance including the involvement in cell signaling such as Wnt / β0 - catenin , PI3K / Akt , integrin αvβ03 / NF - ÎºB / HIF-1α , JAK / STAT3 and MAPK / ERK - mediated pathways dysregulated in HCC .