{
  "abstract": "Tumor microbes are increasingly recognized for modulating tumor behavior and therapy responses. Intratumoral microbial burden (ITMB) analysis across cancers revealed regulation of immune pathways and activated mast cells, mostly in colorectal and gastric cancers. High-ITMB colorectal cancer leads to interferon (IFN) regulation and is associated with improved outcomes in advanced disease. Single-cell sequencing revealed induction of IFN-related genes (IRG) within microbe-containing human colorectal cancer. Gastrointestinal-luminal mismatch repair–deficient (MMRd) tumors had higher ITMB than proficient tumors. In a rectal MMRd cohort with 100% remission after immune checkpoint blockade (ICB), tumor microbes and microbe-containing mast cells increased. In ICB-sensitive syngeneic murine MMRd tumor models, local tumor microbial depletion impaired ICB efficacy while downregulating IFN signaling. Forced upregulation of IRGs in ADAR1-deficient cancer cells restored immunotherapy responses during microbial ablation. These data highlight dynamic interplay among ITMB, host defense, and immunogenicity, which seems key to determine therapy responses.\n\nSignificance:: The ITMB is linked to transcriptional and immune functional changes that seem to determine tumor sensitivity to immunotherapy. These findings highlight the key role of tumor-resident microbes in shaping the tumor ecosystem, which could be targeted to modulate therapy responses.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Genetics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas.",
    "Tumor Ecosystems Center, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas.",
    "Department of Clinical Cancer Prevention, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas.",
    "College of Pharmacy, Daegu Catholic University, Gyeongsan-si, South Korea.",
    "Genomic Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas.",
    "Department of Systems Biology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas.",
    "Department of Leukemia, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas.",
    "Division of Solid Tumor Oncology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York.",
    "Clínica Alemana, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad del Desarrollo, Santiago, Chile.",
    "Departamento de Tumores de Tubo Digestivo, Laboratorio de Medicina Traslacional, Instituto Nacional de Cancerología, Ciudad de México, Mexico.",
    "Núcleo B de Innovación en Medicina de Precisión, Instituto Nacional de Medicina Genómica, Ciudad de México, Mexico.",
    "Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas.",
    "Respiratory Diseases Department, Faculty of Medicine, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, Santiago, Chile.",
    "Resphera Biosciences LLC, Baltimore, Maryland.",
    "Institute for Data Science in Oncology (IDSO), Houston, Texas.",
    "James P. Allison Institute (JPAI), The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas.",
    "Department of Immunology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 32,
  "authors": [
    {
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        0,
        1
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      "name": "Haoyue Liu",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-0498-2796"
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        3
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      "name": "Jeong-Hoon Jang",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-5925-6524"
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      "name": "Fuduan Peng",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-4068-530X"
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      "name": "Hajar Rajaei",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-8803-8841"
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      "name": "Vidhi Chandra",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-3642-2144"
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      ],
      "name": "Le Li",
      "orcid": "0009-0001-3077-8273"
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      ],
      "name": "Dhwani N. Rupani",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-2325-4057"
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      ],
      "name": "Sedigheh Taghinezhadsaroukalaei",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-4497-4427"
    },
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      ],
      "name": "Yuehui Zhao",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-9496-0023"
    },
    {
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        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Erika Y. Faraoni",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-0731-2122"
    },
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        1
      ],
      "name": "Thais F. Bartelli",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-1373-0112"
    },
    {
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        0,
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      ],
      "name": "Olivereen Le Roux",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-1882-879X"
    },
    {
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        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Virginia Tahan",
      "orcid": "0009-0006-8326-3536"
    },
    {
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        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Fernando Jimenez-Arancon",
      "orcid": "0009-0009-7880-589X"
    },
    {
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        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Seyda Baydogan",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-9455-640X"
    },
    {
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      ],
      "name": "Amir Hossein Mohseni",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-0320-9523"
    },
    {
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      ],
      "name": "Javier A. Gomez",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-6579-744X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        7
      ],
      "name": "Mitesh Patel",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-6724-9183"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6
      ],
      "name": "Jared K. Burks",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-6173-9074"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8
      ],
      "name": "Barbara Miño Galvez",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-9217-8719"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8
      ],
      "name": "Daniel E. Carvajal-Hausdorf",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-1742-729X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        9
      ],
      "name": "Erika Ruiz-García",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-0446-123X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        10
      ],
      "name": "Edith A. Fernandez-Figueroa",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-5159-8300"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        11
      ],
      "name": "Scott Kopetz",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-9647-3416"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        7
      ],
      "name": "Steven B. Maron",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-8794-130X"
    },
    {
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        7
      ],
      "name": "Andrea Cercek",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-5054-8192"
    },
    {
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        12
      ],
      "name": "Erick M. Riquelme",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-2696-7995"
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    {
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        5
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      "name": "Nicholas E. Navin",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-2106-8624"
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    {
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        13
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      "name": "James Robert White",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-7535-9179"
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        4,
        14,
        15
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      "name": "Linghua Wang",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-9380-0266"
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    {
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        7
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      "name": "Luis A. Diaz",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-7079-8914"
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        1,
        11,
        16
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      "name": "Florencia McAllister",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-9915-0943"
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  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7xypwers30efw.bib",
  "cited_by": 1,
  "doi": "10.1158/2159-8290.cd-24-1908",
  "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13725338/",
  "id": "7xypwers30efw",
  "issns": [
    "2159-8274",
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  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1158/2159-8290.cd-24-1908",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Checkpoint Blockade"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Gastrointestinal Cancers"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Immunotherapy"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Pancreatic Cancer"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Preclinical Models"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Research Articles"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2730|Cancer Immunotherapy and Biomarkers"
    ]
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  "openalex": "W7166118372",
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": "PMC13725338",
  "pmid": "42360233",
  "published": "2026-06-26",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7xypwers30efw.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-04T12:23:45Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13725338",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1158/2159-8290.cd-24-1908"
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  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2730|Cancer Immunotherapy and Biomarkers",
      "subfield": "oncology"
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  ],
  "title": "Tumor Microbial Burden Drives Immune Responses through Regulation of Interferon Signaling",
  "title_text": "Tumor Microbial Burden Drives Immune Responses through Regulation of Interferon Signaling",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-06T12:21:37Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7xypwers30efw",
  "venue": "Cancer Discovery",
  "versions": []
}