BEIJING, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Chinese scientists have identified new biomarkers of liver cancer and developed a new diagnostic method for the disease.

Liver cancer is one of the most common and lethal diseases in the world and most cases are already at an advanced stage by the time they are diagnosed. Therefore, early diagnosis of liver cancer is important for prolonging patients' lives.

As early cancer can be detected by observing DNA methylation alteration in the blood, scientists from Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences systematically analyzed the DNA methylation characteristics of 375 samples from liver cancer patients, 50 normal liver samples and 3,780 samples from patients with other cancers.

They selected potential diagnostic biomarkers of liver cancer and established a prediction model. The results showed that the model had a 92% success rate in predicting liver cancer.

The research provides a new solution for early diagnosis of liver cancer in the future. Subsequent research based on this finding has been launched, according to the team.

The research was published in the journal Genome Medicine.