No fasting required.

Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is used as a tumor marker to help detect and diagnose cancers of the liver, testicles, and ovaries. Though the test is often ordered to monitor people with chronic liver diseases such as cirrhosis, chronic hepatitis B or hepatitis C because they have an increased lifetime risk of developing liver cancer, most current guidelines do not recommend this use. A healthcare practitioner may order an AFP test, along with imaging studies, to try to detect liver cancer when it is in its earliest and most treatable stages.