Overview

• The study isolated cell-free microbial DNA from blood plasma of 16 primary liver cancer patients and 11 with colorectal cancer metastases to the liver for metagenomic profiling.
• A microbial cfDNA classifier distinguished primary liver cancer from metastatic colorectal lesions in the liver with 90% accuracy in the pilot cohort.
• Distinct bacterial signatures emerged by tumor origin, with Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Corynebacterium species enriched in primary liver cancer and multiple Acinetobacter species plus Pseudomonas asiatica in colorectal metastases.
• Authors note that enriched microbes reflect clinical contexts—immunocompromise and transplant complications in liver cancer versus hospital-acquired infections and gastrointestinal inflammation in metastases—highlighting correlation without established causation.
• Researchers emphasize the need for larger, multicenter validation studies and mechanistic research to determine clinical utility and underlying biological roles of microbial cfDNA signals.