<i>Bacteroidetes</i> promote hepatocellular carcinoma progression and resistance to immunotherapy.

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

Growing evidence highlight the critical role of the gut microbiome in tumorigenesis and response to immunotherapies. However, the impact of gut microbes on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression and response to immune-checkpoint blockade (ICB) remains unclear due to the lack of combined preclinical and clinical studies.

Approach & results

We performed 16S rRNA of cross-cohort stool samples from 10 HCC responders (R) and 40 non-responders (NR) to ICB at baseline and on-treatment time-points. We identified an enrichment of Bacteroidetes in NR. To study the role of the microbiome in the cancer immune response, we generated an immunogenic mouse model of HCC via hydrodynamic tail-vein injection (HDTVI) of DNA plasmids mimicking common HCC alteration

SUBMITTER: Barcena-Varela M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12710632 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature