Cancer tumors hid mushrooms. Let's see if it's dangerous

Trillions of microorganisms live in the human body. Most of them are bacteria, but they are found in human bodies

various types of fungi and viruses.It is noteworthy that each part of the body sometimes has its own “population”. Scientists have recently discovered that tumors have their own unique microbial composition. First, the researchers chronicled the different types of bacteria that live in pathological formations—we are talking about the tumor microbiome.

Now scientists have discovered and begancatalog fungal populations of various tumors or cancer mycobiomes (from the English mykes - mushroom). So, the authors of one of the studies said that this was unexpected.

A strange finding in tumors

Scientists noted that they had no idea how mushroomscan get into tumors throughout the body. However, it makes a lot of sense because it matches the pattern of healthy microbiomes throughout the body, including the gut, mouth and skin. There, bacteria and fungi interact as part of a complex community.

As part of the study, biologists identified35 different cancer mycobiomes. To do this, they analyzed more than 17,000 tissue and blood samples. It turned out that different types of cancer are represented by unique combinations of fungi.

Have scientists thought about this before?

Ravid Strausman, one of the co-authors of the new work,had previously studied bacterial communities in tumors. In a 2017 study, the scientist convincingly showed how bacteria that live inside a tumor can influence its response to chemotherapy. He now suggests that the discovery of fungal communities in tumors confirms the urgent need to better understand these cancer fungal populations.

This is a reason to better study the potential effects of fungi in tumors and to reconsider almost everything we know about cancer through a “mycobiome lens,” biologists say.

What else have scientists learned?

In another study, a group of biologistsfocused on the presence of certain fungal species in several common cancers. The goal is to understand whether there is a relationship between fungal communities, cancer severity or patient survival.

During the study, biologists discovered severalconnections between specific types of fungi and cancer. For example, it turns out that a genus of fungus known as Blastomyces is particularly common in lung tumors, while the Malassezia fungus is often found in breast cancer lesions.

Particularly interesting was the connection betweengastrointestinal tumors and common fungal species of Candida. It turns out that high levels of live fungi in colorectal tumors correlate with higher rates of metastasis.

In addition, in circulating blood samplesfound traces of DNA from the same species of Candida that are found in tumors of the gastrointestinal tract. Scientists have suggested that blood tests could be used to assess the risk of certain types of cancer. Perhaps traces of certain fungal DNA in the patient's bloodstream are a sign of spread of the disease from the primary site.

What's the bottom line?

Ultimately, this data can be used tocreate simple and inexpensive DNA tests for Candida that will help predict the course of gastrointestinal cancer and improve standard tumor biopsies. This will ultimately improve the diagnosis of cancer at an early stage, before symptoms appear.

The catch is that a certain tumor environment may simply provide optimal conditions for the development of certain types of fungi. Whether this is so is unknown. In the future, scientists want to find out.

However, even in the absence of cause and effectTherefore, understanding the fungal fingerprints of specific types of cancer will be useful in diagnosis. It is possible that some of these fungi contribute to tumor progression and metastasis. But, even if this is not the case, they will be useful to predict the course of the disease.

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