Gut Microbiota as a Regulator and Target in Cancer Immunology

Dear Colleagues,

The gut microbiota has emerged as a pivotal modulator of host immunity and cancer biology, influencing tumor initiation, progression, and response to immunotherapy. Commensal microbes and their metabolites provide both innate and adaptive immune responses, regulate tumor‑infiltrating lymphocytes, and remodel the tumor micro-environment, thereby impacting the efficacy and toxicity of immune checkpoint inhibitors, cellular therapies, and other immunomodulatory strategies. Conversely, gut dysbiosis may promote immune evasion, treatment resistance, and immune‑related adverse events, underscoring the need to better define causal mechanisms and develop more rational microbiota‑targeted interventions.

We are pleased to invite you to contribute to this Special Issue, which aims to provide a comprehensive view of how the gut microbiota functions as both a regulator and a therapeutic target in cancer immunology. This Special Issue aims to gather mechanistic and translational studies that clarify microbiota–immune–tumor crosstalk and explore microbiome-informed strategies to optimize current and next-generation cancer immunotherapies. Particular emphasis will be placed on cellular and molecular mechanisms, including immune cell regulation, signaling pathways, and microenvironmental interactions underlying microbiota-driven modulation of cancer immunity. The topic fits squarely within the scope of Cells, which focuses on cellular and molecular mechanisms in health and disease. It will be of particular interest to researchers in immunology, oncology, microbiology, and translational medicine.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Cellular and molecular mechanisms of gut microbiota–immune system interactions in tumor initiation, progression, and metastasis.
• Impact of gut microbiota composition, diversity, and metabolites on responses and resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitors (e.g., PD‑1/PD‑L1, CTLA‑4).
• Roles of gut microbiota in modulating the efficacy of tumor‑infiltrating lymphocyte therapy, CAR‑T/CAR‑NK cell therapies, and other cell‑based immunotherapies.
• Microbiota‑driven regulation of the tumor microenvironment, including immune cell infiltration, cytokine networks, and metabolic reprogramming.
• Gut dysbiosis, immune‑related adverse events, and other toxicities associated with cancer immunotherapy, and microbiome‑based mitigation strategies.
• Microbiota‑targeted interventions (diet, antibiotics, probiotics, prebiotics, postbiotics, fecal microbiota transplantation, engineered bacteria, microbial metabolites) to enhance antitumor immunity.
• Microbiome‑based biomarkers for prediction of immunotherapy response, toxicity risk, and patient stratification.
• Multi‑omics, systems biology, and computational modeling of microbiota–immune–tumor interactions.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Suresh Veeraperumal
Dr. Pazhanichamy Kalailingam
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Cells is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• gut microbiota
• cancer immunology
• tumor microenvironment
• immune checkpoint inhibitors
• cellular immunotherapy
• tumor infiltrating lymphocytes
• dysbiosis
• microbiota targeted therapy
• microbiome biomarkers
• immunotherapy resistance