The landscape of microbial associations in human cancer

Gihawi, Abraham, Wood, Henry M, Clark, Jeremy, O'Grady, Justin, Eeles, Rosalind A, Wedge, David C, Jakobsdottir, G Maria, Magiorkinis, Gkikas, Schache, Andrew G, Masterson, Liam, Lechner, Matt, Fenton, Tim R, Jones, Terry M, Flanagan, Adrienne M, De Noon, Solange, Rubinsteyn, Alex, Hurst, Rachel, Cooper, Colin S and Brewer, Daniel S (2025) The landscape of microbial associations in human cancer. Science Translational Medicine, 17 (814), eads6166, [eads6166]. (doi:10.1126/scitranslmed.ads6166).

Abstract

Oncomicrobes are estimated to cause 15% of cancers worldwide. When cancer whole-genome sequencing (WGS) data are collected, the microbes present are also sequenced, allowing the investigation of potential etiological and clinical associations. Interrogating the microbial community for 8908 patients encompassing 22 cancer types from the Genomics England WGS dataset revealed that only colorectal tumors exhibited unmistakably distinct microbial communities that can reliably be used to distinguish anatomical site [positive predictive value (PPV) = 0.95]. This pattern was validated in two independent datasets. Potential clinical relevance uncovered by our analyses included accurate detection of alphapapillomaviruses [human papillomavirus (HPV)] in oral cancers, when compared with current clinical standards, and the detection of rare, highly pathogenic viruses such as human T-lymphotropic virus-1. Biomarker investigations demonstrated statistically significant associations ( P < 0.05) between a subset of anaerobic bacteria and survival in certain subtypes of sarcoma. Our results contradict previous claims that each cancer type has a distinct microbiological signature but highlight the potential value of microbial analysis for certain cancers as WGS of tumor samples becomes common in the clinic.

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Contributors

Author: Tim R Fenton

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