The GALAD score and the BALAD-2 score correlate with transarterial and systemic treatment response and survival in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

"Declarations Conflict of interestsThe authors have declared that no conflict of interest exist. FL declares honoraria from honoraria for lectures and/or as an advisor from Amgen, Astellas, Astra Zeneca, Bayer, Biontech, BMS, Daiichi Sankyo, Eli Lilly, Elsevier, Falk Foundation, Incyte, Merck, MSD, Novartis, Roche, Servier, Springer-Nature, StreamedUp! His institution has received research support from Astra Zeneca, BMS and Gilead. TD declares honoraria for lectures and/or as advisor from Bayer, Astra Zeneca, IPSEN, Novartis, Merck, Lilly, Roche, Siemens, Canon, Parexel, Perceptive, Takeda, MSD, and b.e. imaging. FvB received grants/research support from BMS, Gilead, Humedics, Roche, and Janssen; received honoraria or consulting fees from AbbVie, Bayer, Gilead, Eisai, Ipsen, Janssen, MSD/Merck, Novartis, and Roche; and participated in a company-sponsored speakers bureau from AbbVie, Bayer, Gilead, Eisai, Ipsen, Janssen, MedUpdate, MSD/Merck, and Novartis. TB received grants/research support from Abbvie, BMS, Gilead, MSD/Merck, Humedics, Intercept, Merz, Norgine, Novartis, Orphalan and Sequana Medical; received honoraria or consulting fees from Abbvie, Alexion, Albireo, Bayer, Gilead, GSK, Eisai, Enyo Pharma, HepaRegeniX GmbH, Humedics, Intercept, Ipsen, Janssen, MSD/Merck, Novartis, Orphalan, Roche, Sequana Medical, SIRTEX, SOBI, and Shionogi; and participated in a company-sponsored speakers bureau from Abbvie, Advance Pharma, Alexion, Albireo, Bayer, Gilead, Eisai, Falk Foundation, Intercept, Ipsen, Janssen, MedUpdate GmbH, MSD/Merck, Novartis, Orphalan, Sequana Medica, SIRTEX, and SOBI. Ethics approval and consent to participateThe study design and all experimental procedures were approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Leipzig (ethics committee project numbers 006–09 and 112/18-ek) and conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Consent for publicationWritten informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. Conflict of interests The authors have declared that no conflict of interest exist. FL declares honoraria from honoraria for lectures and/or as an advisor from Amgen, Astellas, Astra Zeneca, Bayer, Biontech, BMS, Daiichi Sankyo, Eli Lilly, Elsevier, Falk Foundation, Incyte, Merck, MSD, Novartis, Roche, Servier, Springer-Nature, StreamedUp! His institution has received research support from Astra Zeneca, BMS and Gilead. TD declares honoraria for lectures and/or as advisor from Bayer, Astra Zeneca, IPSEN, Novartis, Merck, Lilly, Roche, Siemens, Canon, Parexel, Perceptive, Takeda, MSD, and b.e. imaging. FvB received grants/research support from BMS, Gilead, Humedics, Roche, and Janssen; received honoraria or consulting fees from AbbVie, Bayer, Gilead, Eisai, Ipsen, Janssen, MSD/Merck, Novartis, and Roche; and participated in a company-sponsored speakers bureau from AbbVie, Bayer, Gilead, Eisai, Ipsen, Janssen, MedUpdate, MSD/Merck, and Novartis. TB received grants/research support from Abbvie, BMS, Gilead, MSD/Merck, Humedics, Intercept, Merz, Norgine, Novartis, Orphalan and Sequana Medical; received honoraria or consulting fees from Abbvie, Alexion, Albireo, Bayer, Gilead, GSK, Eisai, Enyo Pharma, HepaRegeniX GmbH, Humedics, Intercept, Ipsen, Janssen, MSD/Merck, Novartis, Orphalan, Roche, Sequana Medical, SIRTEX, SOBI, and Shionogi; and participated in a company-sponsored speakers bureau from Abbvie, Advance Pharma, Alexion, Albireo, Bayer, Gilead, Eisai, Falk Foundation, Intercept, Ipsen, Janssen, MedUpdate GmbH, MSD/Merck, Novartis, Orphalan, Sequana Medica, SIRTEX, and SOBI."

"Funding Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL. The study was financed by in-house research funds from the Division of Hepatology at the Leipzig University Medical Center. The biomarkers AFP, AFP-L3 and DCP were measured by Fujifilm Wako Chemicals Europe."