Comprehensive analysis of microbiota signature across 32 cancer types

Abstract

Microbial communities significantly inhabit the human body. Evidence shows the interaction between the human microbiome and host cells plays a central role in multiple physiological processes and organ microenvironments. However, the majority of related studies focus on gut microbiota or specific tissues/organs, and the component signature of intratumor microbiota across various cancer types remains unclear. Here, we systematically analyzed the correlation between intratumor microbial signature with survival outcomes, genomic features, and immune profiles across 32 cancer types based on the public databases of Bacteria in Cancer (BIC) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Results showed the relative abundance of microbial taxa in tumors compared to normal tissues was observed as particularly noticeable. Survival analysis found that specific candidate microbial taxa were correlated with prognosis across various cancers. Then, a microbial-based scoring system (MS), which was composed of 64 candidate prognostic microbes, was established. Further analyses showed significant differences in survival status, genomic function, and immune profiles among the distinct MS subgroups. Taken together, this study reveals the diversity and complexity of microbiomes in tumors. Classifying cancer into different subtypes based on intratumor microbial signatures might reasonably reflect genomic characteristics, immune features, and survival status.