New light is being shed on the interactions between the gut microbiome, cancer cell signalling and the host immune response. With this knowledge, microbiota-based approaches for improving cancer prevention, prognostication and therapy have started to materialize and will contribute to reducing the global cancer burden.
Key advances
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A Ruminococcus bromii-driven microbiome signature that correlates with immune traits predicts overall survival of patients with colorectal cancer3.
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Carnobacterium maltaromaticum is a potential prophylactic for colorectal cancer via enhancing intestinal vitamin D biogenesis6.
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Downregulation of PDL2 by the gut microbiome, and specifically Coprobacillus cateniformis, is required for the efficacy of anti-PD1 or anti-PDL1 immunotherapy10.
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Acknowledgements
The authors’ laboratories are supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (No. 2020YFA0509200/2020YFA0509203), Research Talent Hub (RTH) of ITF scheme (ITS/177/21FP), Hong Kong RGC-Research Impact Fund (R4032-21F), Hong Kong RGC-Theme-based Research Scheme (T21-705/20-N), Hong Kong RGC-Collaborative Research Fund (C4039-19GF, C7065-18GF), Hong Kong RGC-General Research Fund (14110819, 14111621, 14116722) and CUHK Vice-Chancellor’s Discretionary Fund (CUHK PDFS2122-4S03).
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Wu, W.K.K., Yu, J. Microbiota-based biomarkers and therapeutics for cancer management. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 21, 72–73 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-023-00879-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-023-00879-9