Microbiomes and Cancer: A New Era in Diagnosis and Therapy

Dear Colleagues,

The host microbiota is a complex, dynamic community of bacteria, archaea, fungi and protozoa that plays an integral role in gastrointestinal and extraintestinal homeostasis. The contribution of the microbiota to oncogenesis and response to anticancer therapies is a topic of intense research. Indeed, a dysbiotic gut may promote tumorigenesis by sustaining low-grade inflammation and inducing aberrant cell proliferation. Moreover, the involvement of specific pathobionts (i.e., Helicobacter pylori and Fusobacterium nucleatum) in the development of gastrointestinal cancer has been highlighted in recent studies. In this vein, mechanistic insight into the contribution of specific microbes to carcinogenesis may support the design of minimally invasive prognostic and diagnostic tools.

At the same time, breakthrough studies have linked the composition and function of the microbiome to the response to anticancer therapy. Specifically, animal and clinical studies show that commensal as well as probiotic bacteria may modulate the response to chemotherapy, actinotherapy, and immunotherapy. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) and CAR-T cell therapies have, recently, gained traction due to the lasting effects and better tolerance in patients with solid tumours compared to conventional treatment. However, some individuals show limited response or even resistance to these modalities. To this end, elucidating the contribution of microbiomes to treatment response may support the design of patient-specific strategies, including fecal microbiota transplantation, with increased efficacy and safety.

As the Collection Editor of this Collection, Ι would like to invite you to submit original research articles, reviews, and short communications on the role of microbiomes in cancer prognosis, diagnosis, and therapy.

Dr. Alex Galanis
Collection Editor

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 short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Microorganisms is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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.