Publication Name	World Journal of Hepatology
Manuscript ID	114861
Country	China

Category	Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Manuscript Type	Letter to the Editor
Article Title	Serum alpha-fetoprotein dynamics in liver failure: Prognostic implications and clinical insights
Manuscript Source	Invited Manuscript
All Author List	Xing-Xue Niu and Xiao-Jun Yang
Funding Agency and Grant Number	Funding Agency Grant Number The Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province 25JRRA304 The Intramural Research Fund of Gansu Provincial Hospital 22GSSYA-3 Doctoral Research Fund of the Key Laboratory of Diagnosis and Treatment of Gastrointestinal Tumors, National Health Commission of China NHCDP2022001
Corresponding Author	Xiao-Jun Yang, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of General Surgery, Gansu Provincial Hospital, No. 199 Donggang West Road, Chengguan District, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu Province, China. yangxjmd@aliyun.com
Key Words	Liver failure; Alpha-fetoprotein; Prognostic prediction; Acute-on-chronic liver failure; Hepatic regeneration; Wnt/β-catenin; STAT3; Immune response
Core Tip	Guo et al highlighted that serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) kinetics may serve as an important prognostic indicator for patients with liver failure and help stratify risk in those receiving artificial liver support therapy. Despite limitations such as a small sample size and a lack of mechanistic validation, dynamic changes in AFP remain a promising complement to traditional prognostic scores. Future research should prioritize multicenter prospective validation and integrate AFP kinetics with multidimensional biomarkers and existing prognostic models, while also exploring regeneration-related signaling such as Wnt/β-catenin, STAT3, and immune pathways.
Citation	Niu XX, Yang XJ. Serum alpha-fetoprotein dynamics in liver failure: Prognostic implications and clinical insights. World J Hepatol 2026; In press

Received	2025-10-09 03:29
Peer-Review Started	2025-10-09 03:29
First Decision by Editorial Office Director	2025-11-24 12:45
Return for Revision	2025-11-25 07:42
Revised	2025-12-08 18:55
Publication Fee Transferred
Second Decision by Editor	2026-01-08 02:37
Second Decision by Editor-in-Chief
Final Decision by Editorial Office Director	2026-01-08 10:30
Articles in Press	2026-01-08 10:30
Edit the Manuscript by Language Editor
Typeset the Manuscript

ISSN	1948-5182 (online)
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