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Figure 4. Candidate intervention strategies targeting the gut microbiota in HCC-related settings: FMT can broadly reshape the microbial ecosystem by introducing donor microbiota; probiotic or prebiotic supplementation may selectively promote beneficial bacteria and enhance the intestinal barrier; dietary intervention (high-fiber, low-fat, and low-refined-sugar diets) may improve microbiota composition; metabolite-targeted therapies, such as FXR agonists or TMA lyase inhibitors, may regulate microbiota-derived signaling molecules; bacteriophage therapy may specifically remove toxin-producing pathogens. These strategies are hypothesized to act through the gut-liver axis and modify microbial or metabolic function; most remain preclinical or at an early clinical stage in HCC. Created in BioRender. Zhang, K. (2026) https://BioRender.com/3p4nage. FMT: Fecal microbiota transplantation; FXR: farnesoid X receptor; HCC: hepatocellular carcinoma; TIE2: TEK tyrosine kinase; TMA: trimethylamine.





