Fig. 1. Depleting gut commensal bacteria inhibits liver tumor growth in multiple mouse models.

(A) MYC transgene was turned on at the age of 4 weeks. MYC-ON mice were fed with ABX or regular water. Ten weeks later, mice were killed and liver surface tumor nodules were counted. Representative liver images are shown. Data represent mean ± SEM of two pooled experiments. n = 5 for H₂O, 6 for ABX. P < 0.05, Student’s t test. (B) C57BL/6 mice were treated with ABX or H₂O for 3 weeks before receiving subcutaneous EL4 tumor cell injection. Four weeks later, liver metastases were determined. Representative images of five pooled experiments are shown. n = 17 for H₂O, 12 for ABX. P < 0.05, Chi-square test. (C) ABX- or H₂O-pretreated C57BL/6 mice were given intrasplenic B16 tumor cell injection. One and a half weeks later, liver metastases were measured. Representative images are shown. Data represent mean ± SEM of five pooled experiments n = 18 for H₂O, 15 for ABX. P < 0.05, Student’s t test. (D) BALB/c mice were treated with ABX or H₂O for 3 weeks. Then mice received A20 tumor cell tail vein injection. Three weeks later, liver metastases were counted. Representative images are shown. Data represent mean ± SEM of two pooled experiments. n = 8, P < 0.05, Student’s t test.