Hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma exhibits distinct intra-tumoral microbiota and immune microenvironment signatures

Emerging evidence supports a high prevalence of cancer type-specific microbiota residing within tumor tissues. The intra-tumoral microbiome in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), especially in viral (HBV/HCV) HCC, has not been well characterized for their existence, composition, distribution, and biological functions. We conducted 16S rRNA sequencing to illustrate the tumor microbiome using the FFPE liver tumors from the cohort of liver cancer patients with either viral infection or NBNC etiology, grouped as Viral_HCC, Viral_ Background, NBNC_HCC and NBNC_Background.