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©The Author(s) 2026. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Feb 21, 2026; 32(7): 115044
Published online Feb 21, 2026. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v32.i7.115044
Published online Feb 21, 2026. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v32.i7.115044
Refining early detection of hepatocellular carcinoma: The promise of the GALAD score
Harsha S Prakash, Amit Sehrawat, Anusha Mruthyunjaya Swamy, Deepak Sundriyal, Department of Medical Oncology Haematology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh 249203, Uttarakhand, India
Author contributions: Prakash HS and Sehrawat A contributed to the conceptualization of the editorial; Prakash HS, Sehrawat A, Swamy AM, and Sundriyal D contributed to the writing and preparation of the manuscript; all authors critically reviewed and approved the final version of the editorial.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Amit Sehrawat, Associate Professor, Department of Medical Oncology Haematology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Virbhadra Road, Rishikesh 249203, Uttarakhand, India. dramitsehrawat@gmail.com
Received: October 20, 2025
Revised: November 28, 2025
Accepted: December 19, 2025
Published online: February 21, 2026
Processing time: 110 Days and 13.3 Hours
Revised: November 28, 2025
Accepted: December 19, 2025
Published online: February 21, 2026
Processing time: 110 Days and 13.3 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Compared to alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and ultrasonography alone, the GALAD score, which takes into account age, sex, AFP, AFP-L3, and des-gamma-carboxy prothrombin, shows superior diagnostic effectiveness for hepatocellular carcinoma. However, different groups have different best cut-offs, which supports the idea that a global criterion is inappropriate. Future multi-ethnic prospective studies and integration with imaging (e.g., GALADUS) are necessary for the standardized, cost-effective detection of early hepatocellular carcinoma.