The gut microbiota is now considered a metabolic organ in the human body that consists of a variety of microorganisms, namely, bacteria, viruses, archaea, and fungi. The bulk of the human microbiome resides in the gut, which can directly and indirectly influence oncogenesis by interactions with cancer cells and the immune system, and secretion of functional metabolites. Moreover, recent studies have suggested that the gut microbiome is a potential immune system modulator in colorectal and liver cancers. Furthermore, microorganism-derived metabolites such as short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) can regulate the tumor microenvironment (TME) and potentially affect anti-tumor immunity and therapeutic response to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). Hence, it is important to highlight the role of gut microbiome in modulating the local immune system and its impact on tumor progression and response to therapy.

In this Research Topic, we welcome novel ideas and technologies that underscore the role of gut microbiota interactions with immune cells, cancer cells and host cells in 2D and 3D models of colorectal and liver cancers. Articles exclusively dealing with clinical samples are also welcome.

Submissions to this Research Topic should address, but are not limited to, the following areas:
• Innovative approaches to provide novel concepts in microbiome/cancer/immune/host cell interactions, functions of microbiota-derived metabolites or peptides and novel therapeutic arenas.

• Establishment of in vitro, in vivo and ex vivo pre-clinical models to facilitate robust analysis of gut microbiome in tumor microenvironment, for predicting cancer progression and therapy response.

• Technological advancement in studying microbiome and immune/cancer cell interactions at a single cell level.

• Novel findings related to the influence of gut microbiota in ICI therapy.

• Clinical studies or case reports.

Please note that manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics or computational analysis of public omics databases which are not supplemented by relevant functional validation (clinical cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) are out of scope for this Research Topic.

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Frontiers in Oncology

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