Role of alpha-fetoprotein in prognostic evaluation of patients with liver failure

China is a big country with liver diseases, and various hepatitis viruses, drug poisons, and alcohol can cause liver injury and even liver failure. The key to the prognosis of patients with liver failure is liver self-repair and regeneration. Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) has been extensively studied as a tumor marker in liver cancer, but its role in liver regeneration in patients with liver failure awaits further studies. This article summarizes the basic research on AFP in liver regeneration and the clinical research on AFP in acute liver failure and acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF), as well as the previous research findings of our group that AFP is an important prognostic index and regeneration factor for liver regeneration after hepatitis B virus-related ACLF. The analysis shows that further studies on the role of AFP in the prognosis of various types of liver failure and the mechanism of liver regeneration will help deepen our understanding of AFP and liver regeneration, thereby providing new ideas and methods for the clinical diagnosis, treatment, and prognostic evaluation of patients with various types of liver failure.