Fifty years of discovery of alpha-fetoprotein as the first tumor marker.

Alpha-fetoprotein represents the most prominent oncobiomarker, widely used in the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma for monitoring of tumor progression, presence of metastasis, assessment of cancer prognosis and successful antitumor therapeutic measures. Yuri Semenovich Tatarinov is a Russian scientist who first published antigen specific for human hepatocellular carcinoma in 1963. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the discovery of alpha-fetoprotein, 9th International Scientific-Practical Conference entitled "Achievements of fundamental science and translational medicine capabilities in solving actual problems of practical public health" was held from May 6-8th, 2013 in Astrakhan, Russia.The conference was held in memory of historical scientific work of Yuri Semenovich Tatarinov.