Intratumoral Microbiota Changes with Tumor Stage and Influences the Immune Signature of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma
R. P. Singh, Naina Kumari, Sameer Gupta, Riddhi Jaiswal, Divya Mehrotra, Sudhir Singh, Souvik Mukherjee, Rashmi Kumar
Abstract
The gut microbiome has been explored extensively for its importance in the modulation of systemic inflammation and immune response; in contrast, the intratumoral microbiome is less studied for its influence on immunity in cancer. Given the established correlation between intratumoral lymphocyte infiltration and patient survival in cases of solid tumors, it was pertinent to explore the extrinsic factor influencing immune cell infiltration in the tumor. Modulation of intratumoral microbiota could have a beneficial effect on the antitumor immune response. This study stratifies the microbial profile of oral squamous cell carcinoma starting from precancer to late-stage cancer and provides evidence for their immunomodulatory role in the tumor microenvironment. Our results suggest combining microbiome study with immunological signatures of tumors for their prognostic and diagnostic application.