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

Deborah Nejman, Ilana Livyatan, Garold Fuks, Nancy Gavert, Yaara Zwang, Leore T. Geller, Aviva Rotter-Maskowitz, Roi Weiser, Giuseppe Mallel, Elinor Gigi, Arnon Meltser, Gavin M. Douglas, Iris Kamer, Vancheswaran Gopalakrishnan, Tali Dadosh, Smadar Levin-Zaidman, Sofia Avnet, Tehila Atlan, Zachary A. Cooper, Reetakshi AroraAlexandria P. Cogdill, Md Abdul Wadud Khan, Gabriel Ologun, Yuval Bussi, Adina Weinberger, Maya Lotan-Pompan, Ofra Golani, Gili Perry, Merav Rokah, Keren Bahar-Shany, Elisa A. Rozeman, Christian U. Blank, Anat Ronai, Ron Shaoul, Amnon Amit, Tatiana Dorfman, Ran Kremer, Zvi R. Cohen, Sagi Harnof, Tali Siegal, Einav Yehuda-Shnaidman, Einav Nili Gal-Yam, Hagit Shapira, Nicola Baldini, Morgan G.I. Langille, Alon Ben-Nun, Bella Kaufman, Aviram Nissan, Talia Golan, Maya Dadiani, Keren Levanon, Jair Bar, Shlomit Katz Yust, Iris Barshack, Daniel S. Peeper, Dan J. Raz, Eran Segal, Jennifer A. Wargo, Judith Sandbank, Noam Shental, Ravid Straussman*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1465 Scopus citations

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.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)973-980
Number of pages8
JournalScience
Volume368
Issue number6494
DOIs
StatePublished - 29 May 2020

Funding

FundersFunder number
National Cancer InstituteT32CA009599, P30CA033572
Horizon 2020 Framework Programme818086, 786344

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