Could the tumor-associated microbiota be the new multi-faceted player in the tumor microenvironment?

Anne-Gaëlle Goubet

doi:10.3389/fonc.2023.1185163

Could the tumor-associated microbiota be the new multi-faceted player in the tumor microenvironment?

Front Oncol. 2023 May 23:13:1185163. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1185163. eCollection 2023.

Author

Anne-Gaëlle Goubet^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pathology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
² AGORA Cancer Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland.
³ Swiss Cancer Center Léman, Lausanne, Switzerland.

Abstract

Microorganisms have been identified in tumor specimens for over a century. It is only in recent years that tumor-associated microbiota has become a rapidly expanding field. Assessment techniques encompass methods at the frontiers of molecular biology, microbiology, and histology, requiring a transdisciplinary process to carefully decipher this new component of the tumor microenvironment. Due to the low biomass, the study of tumor-associated microbiota poses technical, analytical, biological, and clinical challenges and must be approached as a whole. To date, several studies have begun to shed light on the composition, functions, and clinical relevance of the tumor-associated microbiota. This new piece of the tumor microenvironment puzzle could potentially change the way we think about and treat patients with cancer.

Keywords: cancer; microbiome; microbiota; tumor; tumor microenvironment; tumorassociated microbiota (6).

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

Open access funding by University of Geneva.