Table · study · 2026
Cross-cancer analysis identifies metastatic-specific intratumoral microbiota signature with Streptococcus spp. as key microbial hub
Listed in NCBI GEO
Cancer remains one of the leading global health challenges, with lung (LC), breast (BC), and colorectal (CRC) cancers among the most prevalent and deadly malignancies.
Description
The intratumoral microbiota (IM), a distinct microbial ecosystem within tumor tissues, has emerged as a potential modulator of carcinogenesis, immune responses, and metastatic progression; however, comparative cross-cancer analyses are very scarce. In this study, we profiled and compared the IM composition and diversity in FFPE samples from an Italian cohort of BC (GSE212891), CRC (GSE216589), and LC patients.
BC samples exhibited the highest genus-level richness, whereas CRC samples showed significantly greater overall alpha diversity, consistent with the microbial complexity of the gut environment. LC samples displayed the most balanced microbial distribution, as indicated by the highest Shannon index value. Stratification by metastatic condition revealed distinct microbial signatures: 16 genera were exclusive to metastatic tumors and 49 to non-metastatic ones.
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In BC specifically, the class Clostridia and family Burkholderiaceae were enriched in non-metastatic samples, accompanied by distinct functional shifts in pantothenate and coenzyme A biosynthesis and lysine and lipid A pathways. Microbial network analysis further uncovered differences in ecological community structure and keystone taxa: Streptococcus spp. predominated as hubs in metastatic tumors, whereas Neisseria spp. were central in non-metastatic networks.
Overall, our findings highlight cancer-type– and metastasis-specific microbial signatures, supporting a potential role for the IM in tumor progression and offering avenues for biomarker development and therapeutic targeting.
Links
Get the data
- GEO FTP directory ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/series/GSE304nnn/GSE304021 ↗
download · from NCBI GEO
Where it is published
- GEO accession page ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/query/acc.cgi?acc=GSE304021 ↗
landing page · from NCBI GEO
Documentation and papers
- PRJNA1298780 ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bioproject/PRJNA1298780 ↗
project · from NCBI GEO
- PubMed 42065076 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42065076 ↗
publication · from NCBI GEO
Topics
- Stated by source
- Homo sapiens · Other
- From keywords
- Life Sciences
- Inferred from text
- Cancer 75%
Provenance · 1 source records, 8 field assertions
| Source | Key | Last seen | Raw |
|---|---|---|---|
| NCBI GEO | GSE304021 | 13 d ago | JSON v1 |
| Field | Assertion | Extractor | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| access_level | source · NCBI GEO | connector:ncbi_geo@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[disease].local:disease:cancer | enrichment · NCBI GEO | keyword-concept-rules@1.0.0 | title+description (75%) |
| concepts[field].local:field:life-sciences | mapping · NCBI GEO | connector:ncbi_geo@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[method].geo_series_type:other | source · NCBI GEO | connector:ncbi_geo@1.0.0 | /gdstype |
| concepts[organism].NCBITaxon:9606 | source · NCBI GEO | connector:ncbi_geo@1.0.0 | /taxon |
| description | source · NCBI GEO | connector:ncbi_geo@1.0.0 | /summary |
| publication_date | source · NCBI GEO | connector:ncbi_geo@1.0.0 | |
| title | source · NCBI GEO | connector:ncbi_geo@1.0.0 | /title |