{"entity":{"id":"tumour-microbiome-targeting","kind":"technology","name":"Targeting the tumour's own microbes","aka":[],"tldr":"Some tumours contain bacteria and fungi that shelter cancer cells and break down chemotherapy. Killing them may make treatment work.","summary":"Intratumoural bacteria have been detected in colorectal, pancreatic and other tumours. Fusobacterium nucleatum is associated with colorectal cancer progression and chemoresistance, and gammaproteobacteria can metabolise gemcitabine inside pancreatic tumours. Antibiotic and targeted antimicrobial strategies remain preclinical, complicated by the fact that broad antibiotics also damage the gut microbiome that immunotherapy depends on.","status":"preclinical","asOf":"2026-09-08","links":[{"label":"ClinicalTrials.gov: Fusobacterium colorectal cancer","url":"https://clinicaltrials.gov/search?term=Fusobacterium%20colorectal%20cancer"}],"tags":["frontier","radical"],"related":[],"cancers":["colorectal","pancreatic"],"sections":["targeted-therapy","drug-discovery"],"technologies":["single-cell-spatial","checkpoint-inhibitor","cytotoxic-chemotherapy"],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"principle":"Selectively eliminating tumour-resident microbes removes drug-degrading enzymes and immunosuppressive signalling from inside the tumour.","strengths":["Explains otherwise puzzling chemoresistance","Cheap intervention if a targeted agent exists","Independent of tumour genotype"],"limitations":["Broad antibiotics harm immunotherapy response","Causality versus association unsettled","No clinical trials of targeted intratumoural antimicrobials"]},"route":"/technologies/tumour-microbiome-targeting/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"colorectal","kind":"cancer","name":"Colorectal cancer","route":"/cancers/colorectal/"},{"id":"pancreatic","kind":"cancer","name":"Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma","route":"/cancers/pancreatic/"}],"section":[{"id":"drug-discovery","kind":"section","name":"Drug Discovery Platforms","route":"/fronts/drug-discovery/"},{"id":"targeted-therapy","kind":"section","name":"Targeted Therapy","route":"/fronts/targeted-therapy/"}],"technology":[{"id":"cytotoxic-chemotherapy","kind":"technology","name":"Cytotoxic chemotherapy","route":"/technologies/cytotoxic-chemotherapy/"},{"id":"checkpoint-inhibitor","kind":"technology","name":"Immune checkpoint inhibitors","route":"/technologies/checkpoint-inhibitor/"},{"id":"single-cell-spatial","kind":"technology","name":"Single-cell & spatial profiling","route":"/technologies/single-cell-spatial/"}],"roadmap":[{"id":"frontier-2035","kind":"roadmap","name":"Radical oncology: what could change the war by 2035","route":"/roadmaps/frontier-2035/"}]}}