Local research identifies how fungus relates to lung cancer progression

Experts in Shanghai have for the first time disclosed the mechanism by which fungus can speed up lung cancer progression, by exploring tissues of lung cancer patients and animal models.

A research article by experts from the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine was published by world-leading medical journal Cancer Cell.

The research revealed that the intratumor mycobiome plays an important role in stimulating the immunosuppressive tumor micro-environment and thereby promotes lung tumor progression, and is associated with poor patient outcomes.

It means the intratumor mycobiome could become a potential target for screening tools and new drug and therapy developments for cancer prevention and treatment, the experts from Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine said.

According to the experts, there is growing appreciation that polymorphic microbiomes as hallmarks of cancer have profound impacts on tumor progression and responses to anticancer therapies. However, most previous studies did not isolate live micro-organisms from tumor tissues and establish the relationship.

In this research, experts successfully identified Aspergillus sydowii, a kind of fungal strain, in lung cancer patients. Both animal and human samples confirmed that enriched Aspergillus sydowii is associated with immunosuppression and poor patient outcomes.