Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 26, 2025

Studying the Effects of Tumor-Secreted Paracrine Ligands on Macrophage Activation using Co-Culture with Permeable Membrane Supports
Published on: November 28, 2019
Unexpected guests in the tumor microenvironment: microbiome in cancer
Abigail Wong-Rolle1, Haohan Karen Wei2, Chen Zhao3
1Thoracic and Gastrointestinal Malignancies Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 4 Memorial Drive, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA.
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.
Related Concept Videos
The Tumor Microenvironment
Tumor Immunotherapy
mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression
The mTOR pathway or the...
Cancer Stem Cells and Tumor Maintenance
Cancer stem cells are thought to originate from tissue-specific normal stem cells or progenitor cells. The normal stem cells usually reside in...
Adaptive Mechanisms in Cancer Cells
Some of the advantages that cancer cells have on normal cells include - enhanced ability to divide without terminally differentiating, induce new blood vessel formation,...
Tumor Progression
Colon cancer is one of the best-documented examples of tumor progression. Early mutation in the APC gene in colon cells causes a small growth on the colon wall called a polyp. With time, this polyp grows into a benign, pre-cancerous tumor. Further...

