Tumor-resident microorganisms as clinical biomarkers in primary liver cancer: A systematic review of current evidence

Figure 2 Anatomical pathways of microbial colonization in hepatic malignancies. The figure shows the human digestive system with liver tumor and three distinct routes of microbial entry: Upper panel depicts blood-borne bacterial dissemination from systemic circulation; Central liver shows tumor mass (pink nodule) with resident microbial communities; Lower panel illustrates gut microbiota (bacterial symbols) with directional arrows indicating translocation pathways. Right panel shows magnified view of diverse bacterial morphologies within tumor microenvironment. The anatomical representation demonstrates spatial relationships between source organs and target liver tissue.