REVIEW

Unexpected guests in the tumor microenvironment: microbiome in cancer

  • Abigail Wong-Rolle 1 ,
  • Haohan Karen Wei 2 ,
  • Chen Zhao , 1 ,
  • Chengcheng Jin , 2
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  • 1. Thoracic and Gastrointestinal Malignancies Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 4 Memorial Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
  • 2. Department of Cancer Biology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 421 Curie Blvd., Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA

Received date: 23 Aug 2020

Accepted date: 01 Nov 2020

Published date: 15 May 2021

Copyright

2020 The Author(s)

Abstract

Although intestinal microbiome have been established as an important biomarker and regulator of cancer development and therapeutic response, less is known about the role of microbiome at other body sites in cancer. Emerging evidence has revealed that the local microbiota make up an important part of the tumor microenvironment across many types of cancer, especially in cancers arising from mucosal sites, including the lung, skin and gastrointestinal tract. The populations of bacteria that reside specifically within tumors have been found to be tumor-type specific, and mechanistic studies have demonstrated that tumor-associated microbiota may directly regulate cancer initiation, progression and responses to chemo- or immuno-therapies. This review aims to provide a comprehensive review of the important literature on the microbiota in the cancerous tissue, and their function and mechanism of action in cancer development and treatment.

Cite this article

Abigail Wong-Rolle , Haohan Karen Wei , Chen Zhao , Chengcheng Jin . Unexpected guests in the tumor microenvironment: microbiome in cancer[J]. Protein & Cell, 2021 , 12(5) : 426 -435 . DOI: 10.1007/s13238-020-00813-8

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