A mouse model simulating a human-like HCC environment through diethylnitrosamine and hepatotoxin carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) showed how heightened expression of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), due to elevated LPS concentrations in the liver from increased bacterial translocation, promotes hepatocarcinogenesis in a CCl4-dependent manner. Here, TLR4 is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.