Human tumor microbiome including melanoma

This interesting article was just published yesterday however there is a fee to view, so I have posted below what I could find on the internet. The scientists had looked at seven types of tumors including melanoma and the bacteria found to be associated with them. Breast cancer tumors were found to have the most diverse bacteria associated with them whereas melanoma was found to have the least diverse bacteria. The study looked at 1500 tumor samples. It is believed that this tumor associated bacteria has implications in immunotherapy.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/368/6494/973

The human tumor microbiome is composed of tumor type–specific intracellular bacteria

Deborah Nejman1,* et al.

Science 29 May 2020:
Vol. 368, Issue 6494, pp. 973-980
DOI: 10.1126/science.aay9189

PROFILING TUMOR BACTERIA
Bacteria are well-known residents in human tumors, but whether their presence is advantageous to the tumors or to the bacteria themselves has been unclear. As an initial step toward addressing this question, Nejman et al. produced an exhaustive catalog of the bacteria present in more than 1500 human tumors representing seven different tumor types (see the Perspective by Atreya and Turnbaugh). They found that the bacteria within tumors were localized within both cancer cells and immune cells and that the bacterial composition varied according to tumor type. Certain biologically plausible associations were identified. For example, breast cancer subtypes characterized by increased oxidative stress were enriched in bacteria that produce mycothiol, which can detoxify reactive oxygen species.

Science, this issue p. 973; see also p. 938

ABSTRACT

Bacteria were first detected in human tumors more than 100 years ago, but the characterization of the tumor microbiome has remained challenging because of its low biomass. We undertook a comprehensive analysis of the tumor microbiome, studying 1526 tumors and their adjacent normal tissues across seven cancer types, including breast, lung, ovary, pancreas, melanoma, bone, and brain tumors. We found that each tumor type has a distinct microbiome composition and that breast cancer has a particularly rich and diverse microbiome. The intratumor bacteria are mostly intracellular and are present in both cancer and immune cells. We also noted correlations between intratumor bacteria or their predicted functions with tumor types and subtypes, patients’ smoking status, and the response to immunotherapy.

https://images.app.goo.gl/u8Etaj7aDuonnDCs8

https://images.app.goo.gl/kfhMNk1t1feKteCaA

https://images.app.goo.gl/4NzgofQZKqCdjU5s8

https://images.app.goo.gl/G3UvHvpAxVLu2Mex8

https://images.app.goo.gl/di24dxK6d11nS7Yt7

Also a connected article in Medical press talking about the above research article

https://medicalxpress-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/medicalxpress.com/news/2020-05-cells-bacteria-cancer.amp?amp_js_v=a3&amp_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQFKAGwASA%3D#aoh=15908202398030&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fmedicalxpress.com%2Fnews%2F2020-05-cells-bacteria-cancer.html

Hope you find this as interesting as I have.

Melanie