Vella Gerlanda, Rescigno Maria
IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, via Manzoni 56, 20089 Rozzano, Milan, Italy.
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University, via Rita Levi Montalcini 4, 20072 Pieve Emanuele, Milan, Italy.
EMBO Rep. 2025 May 28. doi: 10.1038/s44319-025-00482-w.
Accumulating evidence highlights the presence of an intratumoral microbiota across various cancer types. Among all the microorganisms comprising the tumor-associated microbiota, tumor-resident bacteria (TRB) are increasingly recognized as critical regulators of cancer biology. Within tumor tissues, these microorganisms interact with various components of the tumor microenvironment (TME) and influence both tumor-promoting and tumor-suppressing pathways, underlying their dual role in cancer. Fully understanding the functional roles of TRB and their complex interactions with components of the TME requires the application of multimodal technologies. Developing strategies to modulate TRB-either by eradicating pathogenic populations or harnessing beneficial ones-holds great promise for advancing cancer treatment. In this review, we summarize the most recent insights into TRB. We discuss their possible origins and their implications on cancer biology, focusing on their roles in cancer development, metastasis establishment, immune modulation, and therapy response. Finally, we describe bacteria-based strategies and address the major challenges in detecting and analyzing these microbial communities in tumors.
越来越多的证据表明，多种癌症类型中都存在肿瘤内微生物群。在构成肿瘤相关微生物群的所有微生物中，肿瘤驻留细菌（TRB）越来越被认为是癌症生物学的关键调节因子。在肿瘤组织内，这些微生物与肿瘤微环境（TME）的各种成分相互作用，影响肿瘤促进和肿瘤抑制途径，这是它们在癌症中发挥双重作用的基础。要全面了解TRB的功能作用及其与TME成分的复杂相互作用，需要应用多模态技术。开发调节TRB的策略——无论是通过根除致病菌群还是利用有益菌群——在推进癌症治疗方面具有巨大潜力。在这篇综述中，我们总结了对TRB的最新见解。我们讨论了它们可能的起源及其对癌症生物学的影响，重点关注它们在癌症发展、转移形成、免疫调节和治疗反应中的作用。最后，我们描述了基于细菌的策略，并阐述了检测和分析肿瘤中这些微生物群落的主要挑战。
