Open Exploration maintains a neutral stance on jurisdictional claims in published institutional affiliations and maps. All opinions expressed in this article are the personal views of the author(s) and do not represent the stance of the editorial team or the publisher.
References
Hossain MA. A comprehensive review of immune checkpoint inhibitors for cancer treatment.Int Immunopharmacol. 2024;143:113365. [DOI] [PubMed]
Zamani MR, Šácha P. Immune checkpoint inhibitors in cancer therapy: what lies beyond monoclonal antibodies?Med Oncol. 2025;42:273. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Teo AYT, Yau CE, Low CE, Pereira JV, Ng JYX, Soong TK, et al. Effectiveness of immune checkpoint inhibitors and other treatment modalities in patients with advanced mucosal melanomas: a systematic review and individual patient data meta-analysis.EClinicalMedicine. 2024;77:102870. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Smyth MJ, Teng MW. 2018 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine.Clin Transl Immunology. 2018;7:e1041. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Ballas ZK. The 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: An exemplar of bench to bedside in immunology.J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2018;142:1752–3. [DOI] [PubMed]
Jobin C. Precision medicine using microbiota.Science. 2018;359:32–4. [DOI] [PubMed]
Routy B, Le Chatelier E, Derosa L, Duong CPM, Alou MT, Daillère R, et al. Gut microbiome influences efficacy of PD-1-based immunotherapy against epithelial tumors.Science. 2018;359:91–7. [DOI] [PubMed]
Fan S, Jiang Z, Zhang Z, Xing J, Wang D, Tang D. Akkermansia muciniphila: a potential booster to improve the effectiveness of cancer immunotherapy.J Cancer Res Clin Oncol. 2023;149:13477–94. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Routy B, Lenehan JG, Miller WH Jr, Jamal R, Messaoudene M, Daisley BA, et al. Fecal microbiota transplantation plus anti-PD-1 immunotherapy in advanced melanoma: a phase I trial.Nat Med. 2023;29:2121–32. [DOI] [PubMed]
Baruch EN, Youngster I, Ben-Betzalel G, Ortenberg R, Lahat A, Katz L, et al. Fecal microbiota transplant promotes response in immunotherapy-refractory melanoma patients.Science. 2021;371:602–9. [DOI] [PubMed]
Davar D, Dzutsev AK, McCulloch JA, Rodrigues RR, Chauvin JM, Morrison RM, et al. Fecal microbiota transplant overcomes resistance to anti-PD-1 therapy in melanoma patients.Science. 2021;371:595–602. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Arpaia N, Campbell C, Fan X, Dikiy S, van der Veeken J, deRoos P, et al. Metabolites produced by commensal bacteria promote peripheral regulatory T-cell generation.Nature. 2013;504:451–5. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Furusawa Y, Obata Y, Fukuda S, Endo TA, Nakato G, Takahashi D, et al. Commensal microbe-derived butyrate induces the differentiation of colonic regulatory T cells.Nature. 2013;504:446–50. [DOI] [PubMed]
Huang C, Mei Q, Lou L, Huang Z, Fu Y, Fan J, et al. Ulcerative Colitis in Response to Fecal Microbiota Transplantation via Modulation of Gut Microbiota and Th17/Treg Cell Balance.Cells. 2022;11:1851. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Mortezaee K. Microbiota interaction with Tregs: a target for colitis.Clin Transl Oncol. 2025; [Epub ahead of print]. [DOI] [PubMed]
Kang JH, Zappasodi R. Modulating Treg stability to improve cancer immunotherapy.Trends Cancer. 2023;9:911–27. [DOI] [PubMed]
Coutzac C, Jouniaux JM, Paci A, Schmidt J, Mallardo D, Seck A, et al. Systemic short chain fatty acids limit antitumor effect of CTLA-4 blockade in hosts with cancer.Nat Commun. 2020;11:2168. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Luu M, Weigand K, Wedi F, Breidenbend C, Leister H, Pautz S, et al. Regulation of the effector function of CD8+ T cells by gut microbiota-derived metabolite butyrate.Sci Rep. 2018;8:14430. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Luu M, Riester Z, Baldrich A, Reichardt N, Yuille S, Busetti A, et al. Microbial short-chain fatty acids modulate CD8+ T cell responses and improve adoptive immunotherapy for cancer.Nat Commun. 2021;12:4077. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Balmer ML, Ma EH, Bantug GR, Grählert J, Pfister S, Glatter T, et al. Memory CD8(+) T Cells Require Increased Concentrations of Acetate Induced by Stress for Optimal Function.Immunity. 2016;44:1312–24. [DOI] [PubMed]
Zhang Z, Zhao L, Wu J, Pan Y, Zhao G, Li Z, et al. The Effects of Lactobacillus johnsonii on Diseases and Its Potential Applications.Microorganisms. 2023;11:2580. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Kumar SS, Fathima A, Srihari P, Jamma T. Host-gut microbiota derived secondary metabolite mediated regulation of Wnt/β-catenin pathway: a potential therapeutic axis in IBD and CRC.Front Oncol. 2024;14:1392565. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Tang MH, Ligthart I, Varga S, Lebeer S, van Overveld FJ, Rijkers GT. Mutual Interactions Between Microbiota and the Human Immune System During the First 1000 Days of Life.Biology (Basel). 2025;14:299. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Bender MJ, McPherson AC, Phelps CM, Pandey SP, Laughlin CR, Shapira JH, et al. Dietary tryptophan metabolite released by intratumoral Lactobacillus reuteri facilitates immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment.Cell. 2023;186:1846–62.e26. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Yang L, Li A, Wang Y, Zhang Y. Intratumoral microbiota: roles in cancer initiation, development and therapeutic efficacy.Signal Transduct Target Ther. 2023;8:35. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Jia D, Wang Q, Qi Y, Jiang Y, He J, Lin Y, et al. Microbial metabolite enhances immunotherapy efficacy by modulating T cell stemness in pan-cancer.Cell. 2024;187:1651–65.e21. [DOI] [PubMed]
Kallies A, Zehn D, Utzschneider DT. Precursor exhausted T cells: key to successful immunotherapy?Nat Rev Immunol. 2020;20:128–36. [DOI] [PubMed]
Rodriguez-Mateos A, Vauzour D, Krueger CG, Shanmuganayagam D, Reed J, Calani L, et al. Bioavailability, bioactivity and impact on health of dietary flavonoids and related compounds: an update.Arch Toxicol. 2014;88:1803–53. [DOI] [PubMed]
Geller LT, Barzily-Rokni M, Danino T, Jonas OH, Shental N, Nejman D, et al. Potential role of intratumor bacteria in mediating tumor resistance to the chemotherapeutic drug gemcitabine.Science. 2017;357:1156–60. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Lima JP, dos Santos LV, Sasse EC, Lima CS, Sasse AD. Camptothecins compared with etoposide in combination with platinum analog in extensive stage small cell lung cancer: systematic review with meta-analysis.J Thorac Oncol. 2010;5:1986–93. [DOI] [PubMed]
Yue B, Gao R, Wang Z, Dou W. Microbiota-Host-Irinotecan Axis: A New Insight Toward Irinotecan Chemotherapy.Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2021;11:710945. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Sabit H, Cevik E, Tombuloglu H. Colorectal cancer: The epigenetic role of microbiome.World J Clin Cases. 2019;7:3683–97. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Dominijanni A, Devarasetty M, Soker S. Manipulating the Tumor Microenvironment in Tumor Organoids Induces Phenotypic Changes and Chemoresistance.iScience. 2020;23:101851. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Nejman D, Livyatan I, Fuks G, Gavert N, Zwang Y, Geller LT, et al. The human tumor microbiome is composed of tumor type-specific intracellular bacteria.Science. 2020;368:973–80. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Roje B, Zhang B, Mastrorilli E, Kovačić A, Sušak L, Ljubenkov I, et al. Gut microbiota carcinogen metabolism causes distal tissue tumours.Nature. 2024;632:1137–44. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Basson AR, Zhou Y, Seo B, Rodriguez-Palacios A, Cominelli F. Autologous fecal microbiota transplantation for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease.Transl Res. 2020;226:1–11. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Porcari S, Benech N, Valles-Colomer M, Segata N, Gasbarrini A, Cammarota G, et al. Key determinants of success in fecal microbiota transplantation: From microbiome to clinic.Cell Host Microbe. 2023;31:712–33. [DOI] [PubMed]
Podlesny D, Durdevic M, Paramsothy S, Kaakoush NO, Högenauer C, Gorkiewicz G, et al. Identification of clinical and ecological determinants of strain engraftment after fecal microbiota transplantation using metagenomics.Cell Rep Med. 2022;3:100711. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Lévesque S, Pol JG, Ferrere G, Galluzzi L, Zitvogel L, Kroemer G. Trial watch: dietary interventions for cancer therapy.Oncoimmunology. 2019;8:1591878. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Koopen AM, Almeida EL, Attaye I, Witjes JJ, Rampanelli E, Majait S, et al. Effect of Fecal Microbiota Transplantation Combined With Mediterranean Diet on Insulin Sensitivity in Subjects With Metabolic Syndrome.Front Microbiol. 2021;12:662159. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Kedia S, Virmani S, Vuyyuru SK, Kumar P, Kante B, Sahu P, et al. Faecal microbiota transplantation with anti-inflammatory diet (FMT-AID) followed by anti-inflammatory diet alone is effective in inducing and maintaining remission over 1 year in mild to moderate ulcerative colitis: a randomised controlled trial.Gut. 2022;71:2401–13. [DOI] [PubMed]
Shao X, Liu L, Zhou Y, Zhong K, Gu J, Hu T, et al. High-fat diet promotes colitis-associated tumorigenesis by altering gut microbial butyrate metabolism.Int J Biol Sci. 2023;19:5004–19. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Xin Y, Liu CG, Zang D, Chen J. Gut microbiota and dietary intervention: affecting immunotherapy efficacy in non-small cell lung cancer.Front Immunol. 2024;15:1343450. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Feizi H, Kafil HS, Plotnikov A, Kataev V, Balkin A, Filonchikova E, et al. Polyp and tumor microenvironment reprogramming in colorectal cancer: insights from mucosal bacteriome and metabolite crosstalk.Ann Clin Microbiol Antimicrob. 2025;24:9. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Shi Y, Zheng W, Yang K, Harris KG, Ni K, Xue L, et al. Intratumoral accumulation of gut microbiota facilitates CD47-based immunotherapy via STING signaling.J Exp Med. 2020;217:e20192282. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Yonekura S, Terrisse S, Alves Costa Silva C, Lafarge A, Iebba V, Ferrere G, et al. Cancer Induces a Stress Ileopathy Depending on β-Adrenergic Receptors and Promoting Dysbiosis that Contributes to Carcinogenesis.Cancer Discov. 2022;12:1128–51. [DOI] [PubMed]
Rizvi ZA, Dalal R, Sadhu S, Kumar Y, Kumar S, Gupta SK, et al. High-salt diet mediates interplay between NK cells and gut microbiota to induce potent tumor immunity.Sci Adv. 2021;7:eabg5016. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Choi Y, Lichterman JN, Coughlin LA, Poulides N, Li W, Del Valle P, et al. Immune checkpoint blockade induces gut microbiota translocation that augments extraintestinal antitumor immunity.Sci Immunol. 2023;8:eabo2003. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Li Y, Tinoco R, Elmén L, Segota I, Xian Y, Fujita Y, et al. Gut microbiota dependent anti-tumor immunity restricts melanoma growth in Rnf5-/- mice.Nat Commun. 2019;10:1492. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Battaglia TW, Mimpen IL, Traets JJH, van Hoeck A, Zeverijn LJ, Geurts BS, et al. A pan-cancer analysis of the microbiome in metastatic cancer.Cell. 2024;187:2324–35.e19. [DOI] [PubMed]
Wong-Rolle A, Wei HK, Zhao C, Jin C. Unexpected guests in the tumor microenvironment: microbiome in cancer.Protein Cell. 2021;12:426–35. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Gopalakrishnan V, Spencer CN, Nezi L, Reuben A, Andrews MC, Karpinets TV, et al. Gut microbiome modulates response to anti-PD-1 immunotherapy in melanoma patients.Science. 2018;359:97–103. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Garrett WS. Cancer and the microbiota.Science. 2015;348:80–6. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Gerbec ZJ, Serapio-Palacios A, Metcalfe-Roach A, Krekhno Z, Bar-Yoseph H, Woodward SE, et al. Identification of intratumoral bacteria that enhance breast tumor metastasis.mBio. 2025;16:e0359524. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Arneth B. Tumor Microenvironment.Medicina (Kaunas). 2019;56:15. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Yang P, Liang G, Ni Y, Chu X, Zhang X, Wang Z, et al. Investigating the role of intratumoral Streptococcus mitis in gastric cancer progression: insights into tumor microenvironment.J Transl Med. 2025;23:126. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Cheng P, Yao L, Chen X, Su X, Su X, Huang Q, et al. An inflammatory memory and angiogenic self-assembling nanofiber hydrogel scaffold seeded with Akkermansia muciniphila to accelerate the healing of diabetic ischemic ulcers.RSC Adv. 2018;8:17357–64. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Bohle B, Pera M, Pascual M, Alonso S, Mayol X, Salvado M, et al. Postoperative intra-abdominal infection increases angiogenesis and tumor recurrence after surgical excision of colon cancer in mice.Surgery. 2010;147:120–6. [DOI] [PubMed]
Song Q, Li X, Li Q, Shang S, Ma S, Zhai Z, et al. Bifidobacterium animalis suppresses non-small cell lung cancer progression and modulates tumor immunity through indole-3-acetic acid.Cell Rep. 2025;44:116132. [DOI] [PubMed]
Dizman N, Meza L, Bergerot P, Alcantara M, Dorff T, Lyou Y, et al. Nivolumab plus ipilimumab with or without live bacterial supplementation in metastatic renal cell carcinoma: a randomized phase 1 trial.Nat Med. 2022;28:704–12. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Celik C, Lee STT, Tanoto FR, Veleba M, Kline K, Thibault G. Contribution of pks+ Escherichia coli (E. coli) to Colon Carcinogenesis.Microorganisms. 2024;13:RP95113. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Kong X, Zhang Y, Xiang L, You Y, Duan Y, Zhao Y, et al. Fusobacterium nucleatum-triggered neutrophil extracellular traps facilitate colorectal carcinoma progression.J Exp Clin Cancer Res. 2023;42:236. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Lam EKY, Yu L, Wong HPS, Wu WKK, Shin VY, Tai EKK, et al. Probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG enhances gastric ulcer healing in rats.Eur J Pharmacol. 2007;565:171–9. [DOI] [PubMed]
He X, Guo J, Bai Y, Sun H, Yang J. Salmonella-based therapeutic strategies: improving tumor microenvironment and bringing new hope for cancer immunotherapy.Med Oncol. 2024;42:27. [DOI] [PubMed]
Sadeghi M, Mestivier D, Sobhani I. Contribution of pks+ Escherichia coli (E. coli) to Colon Carcinogenesis.Microorganisms. 2024;12:1111. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Wu H, Leng X, Liu Q, Mao T, Jiang T, Liu Y, et al. Intratumoral Microbiota Composition Regulates Chemoimmunotherapy Response in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma.Cancer Res. 2023;83:3131–44. [DOI] [PubMed]
Imai H, Saijo K, Komine K, Otsuki Y, Ohuchi K, Sato Y, et al. Antibiotic therapy augments the efficacy of gemcitabine-containing regimens for advanced cancer: a retrospective study.Cancer Manag Res. 2019;11:7953–65. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Gurbatri CR, Arpaia N, Danino T. Engineering bacteria as interactive cancer therapies.Science. 2022;378:858–64. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Staedtke V, Roberts NJ, Bai RY, Zhou S. Clostridium novyi-NT in cancer therapy.Genes Dis. 2016;3:144–52. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Zepeda-Rivera M, Minot SS, Bouzek H, Wu H, Blanco-Míguez A, Manghi P, et al. A distinct Fusobacterium nucleatum clade dominates the colorectal cancer niche.Nature. 2024;628:424–32. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]
Lin NY, Fukuoka S, Koyama S, Motooka D, Tourlousse DM, Shigeno Y, et al. Microbiota-driven antitumour immunity mediated by dendritic cell migration.Nature. 2025;644:1058–68. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]