REVIEW article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy
This article is part of the Research TopicMicrobiota-Immune Interactions: A New Frontier in Cancer Treatment OptimizationView all 9 articles
Interaction of intratumoral microbiota with the tumor immune microenvironment and its impact on cancer progression
Provisionally accepted
- 1The Affiliated Hospital of Yunnan University, Kunming, China
- 2The First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan Province, China
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The intratumoral microbiota, a critical component of the tumor microenvironment (TME), has been demonstrated to significantly impact tumor progression and therapeutic outcomes. Research indicates that intratumoral microbes can affect tumorigenesis, metastasis, and therapeutic response through various mechanisms, such as inducing DNA damage, activating oncogenic signaling pathways, and modulating immune responses. Furthermore, the microbiota exerts dual regulatory effects on the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME), either enhancing anti-tumor immunity or promoting immunosuppression, thereby presenting novel targets for cancer therapy. In this paper, we conduct a review of the origin and composition of the intratumoral microbiota and its dynamic interactions with the TME by synthesizing data from multiple cancer studies. This review elucidates the complex role of the microbiota within the TIME and explores its potential for clinical application.
Keywords: Tumor Microenvironment, intratumoral microbiota, Tumor immune microenvironment, immune cells, Immunosuppression, antitumor immunity
Received: 11 Apr 2025; Accepted: 21 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yan, Xiaoling, Yu, Yan, Yang, Xueqin and Shikai. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Tang Shikai, 275917227@qq.com
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