Research advances of alpha-fetoprotein variants in pediatric tumors

Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) has been used as an important tumor marker for hepatoblastoma (HB) and malignant germ cell tumors (GCTs) in pediatric patients. With a low diagnostic specificity, it has 3 isoforms of AFP-L1, AFP-L2 and AFP-L3. This review summarizes recent advances in researches on AFP and its variants. Key words: Alpha-fetoprotein; Protein isoforms; Neoplasms; Hepatoblastoma