Utilization of metabolomics to identify serum biomarkers for hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with liver cirrhosis

► We analyzed sera from HCC and cirrhotic patients by LC-MS in three experiments. ► Metabolites with significant and consistent changes in HCC vs. cirrhosis were selected. ► Verification of the identities of selected metabolites was performed by MS/MS. ► Quantitation of candidate metabolites was conducted using isotope dilution by SRM.