About this Research Topic
Certain microbes have been known to be carcinogenic for many years, for example, Helicobacter pylori, which was classified as a carcinogen in 1991. Chronic infection with bacteria such as S. Typhi have been associated with diseases such as gallbladder cancer, whilst, some bacteria have been used as treatments for disease, for example, Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), which is used as a treatment for bladder cancer. The advent of high-throughput sequencing has made it possible to investigate resident microbiota in both healthy and unhealthy persons, particularly during the course of a disease. Bacteria have also been found within tumors that were previously assumed to be sterile. Many studies have found differences between the microbiota of healthy tissue and tumors, and between healthy persons and those with cancer, suggesting the potential for bacteria other than H. pylori to cause cancer. Furthermore, the gut microbiome may contribute to the success of cancer immunotherapy. In spite of these advances, much remains to be learned about the mechanisms through which microbes contribute to cancer prevention, causation, and treatment.
The goal of this Topic is to untangle the web of microbial associations revealed by microbiome analyses so that we can use this information to predict cancer risk, prevent cancer, and/or develop microbe-derived cancer treatments. We need to determine whether carcinogenic activities of microbes are due to direct interactions between microbes and host cells, secreted substances, effects on the immune system, or some other mechanisms.
This Research Topic is open to submissions in the broad subject area of microbial involvement in cancer prevention, carcinogenesis, treatment response, or software tools relating to cancer and the microbiome. Submissions on bacterial or fungal agents are invited. We especially welcome studies detailing potential mechanisms. Studies may include, but are not limited to:
• In vitro activities of microbes that influence normal or tumor cell physiology
• Animal models demonstrating microbial effects on cancer
• Actions of purified microbial components that promote or inhibit cancer
• Evidence of synergistic interactions of microbes to influence cancer biology
• Mechanistic modeling of the host-microbiome interface
• Software announcements or benchmarks for tools aimed at understanding relationships between cancer and the microbiome.
The goal of this Topic is to untangle the web of microbial associations revealed by microbiome analyses so that we can use this information to predict cancer risk, prevent cancer, and/or develop microbe-derived cancer treatments. We need to determine whether carcinogenic activities of microbes are due to direct interactions between microbes and host cells, secreted substances, effects on the immune system, or some other mechanisms.
This Research Topic is open to submissions in the broad subject area of microbial involvement in cancer prevention, carcinogenesis, treatment response, or software tools relating to cancer and the microbiome. Submissions on bacterial or fungal agents are invited. We especially welcome studies detailing potential mechanisms. Studies may include, but are not limited to:
• In vitro activities of microbes that influence normal or tumor cell physiology
• Animal models demonstrating microbial effects on cancer
• Actions of purified microbial components that promote or inhibit cancer
• Evidence of synergistic interactions of microbes to influence cancer biology
• Mechanistic modeling of the host-microbiome interface
• Software announcements or benchmarks for tools aimed at understanding relationships between cancer and the microbiome.
Keywords: Microbiome, cancer, bioinformatics software, multi-omics, immune system, host-microbe interaction
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
