The disclosure relates to a method for determining incidence of liver cancer in a subject, including detecting methylation level or expression level of one microRNA miR-129-2 in a bio-sample from the subject. In the case that the methylation level of the microRNA in the bio-sample is higher or the expression level of the microRNA in the bio-sample is lower relative to that of the corresponding microRNA in a control sample, indicates that the subject is predisposed to or afflicted with liver cancer.