ReviewJournal of experimental & clinical cancer research : CR2021
The role of the tumor microbe microenvironment in the tumor immune microenvironment: bystander, activator, or inhibitor?
Review in Journal of experimental & clinical cancer research : CR, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 85 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
85 citing papers in PubMed, 124 citations in OpenAlex.
- Decoding the cancer microbiome: multi-omics, AI, and translational opportunities.Genome biology · 2026Review
- Beyond apoptosis: nanomedicine enabled reprogramming of tumor cell death for next-generation radiosensitization.Journal of nanobiotechnology · 2026Review
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- Modular Biosurface Engineering of Magnetotactic Bacteria for Multimodal Synergistic Cancer Therapy.Chem & bio engineering · 2026Article
- Gut microbiota and cancer immunotherapy: from dysbiosis to personalized immune checkpoint blockade optimization.Folia microbiologica · 2026Review
- Cutibacterium acnes-Derived Extracellular Vesicles Promote Epithelial Ovarian Cancer Progression by Activating the KEAP1-NRF2 Antioxidant Pathway to Suppress Ferroptosis.Microbial biotechnology · 2026Article
- The Potential Role of Tumor Microorganisms in Remodeling Tumor Biomechanical Signals and Application Strategies in Tumor Therapy.Microorganisms · 2026Review
- Limits to the evolution of metabolic dependency in spatially structured microbial communities.iScience · 2026Article
- Review
- Unleashing CAR-T potential in solid tumors: overcoming intrinsic and extrinsic hurdles to improve therapy.Cancer immunology, immunotherapy : CII · 2026Review
- Deciphering the intratumor microbiota in malignant gastrointestinal tumors: multifaceted interplay and clinical implications.Cell communication and signaling : CCS · 2026Review
- Intratumoral microbiome: the double-edged sword in remodeling cancer immunotherapy.Molecular cancer · 2026Review
- Research hotspots and frontiers in the tumor microenvironment of gastric cancer: a bibliometric review from 2005 to 2024.Translational cancer research · 2025Article
- Identification and functional characterization of genes associated with lipopolysaccharide in lung adenocarcinoma.BMC cancer · 2025Article
- Intratumoral microbiota remodeling of the tumor microenvironment impact solid tumor immunotherapy.Cell death & disease · 2025Review
- Intratumoral microbiota drive immune evasion and disease progression in oral squamous cell carcinoma.BDJ open · 2025Article
- Gut microbiota and endometrial cancer: research progress on the pathogenesis and application.Annals of medicine · 2025Review
- The microbiome in cancer.iMeta · 2025Review
- The Microbiota-Diet-Immunity Axis in Cancer Care: From Prevention to Treatment Modulation and Survivorship.Nutrients · 2025Review
- Synergistic potentiation of the anti-metastatic effect of a Ginseng-Salvia miltiorrhiza herbal pair and its biological ingredients via the suppression of CD62E-dependent neutrophil infiltration and NETformation.Journal of advanced research · 2025Article
25 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The efficacy of cancer immunotherapy largely depends on the tumor microenvironment, especially the tumor immune microenvironment. Emerging studies have claimed that microbes reside within tumor cells and immune cells, suggesting that these microbes can impact the state of the tumor immune microenvironment. For the first time, this review delineates the landscape of intra-tumoral microbes and their products, herein defined as the tumor microbe microenvironment. The role of the tumor microbe microenvironment in the tumor immune microenvironment is multifaceted: either as an immune activator, inhibitor, or bystander. The underlying mechanisms include: (I) the presentation of microbial antigens by cancer cells and immune cells, (II) microbial antigens mimicry shared with tumor antigens, (III) microbe-induced immunogenic cell death, (IV) microbial adjuvanticity mediated by pattern recognition receptors, (V) microbe-derived metabolites, and (VI) microbial stimulation of inhibitory checkpoints. The review further suggests the use of potential modulation strategies of the tumor microbe microenvironment to enhance the efficacy and reduce the adverse effects of checkpoint inhibitors. Lastly, the review highlights some critical questions awaiting to be answered in this field and provides possible solutions. Overall, the tumor microbe microenvironment modulates the tumor immune microenvironment, making it a potential target for improving immunotherapy. It is a novel field facing major challenges and deserves further exploration.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.