TY - JOUR
T1 - The breast microbiome in breast cancer risk and progression
T2 - a narrative review
AU - Peters, Brandilyn A.
AU - Kelly, Libusha
AU - Wang, Tao
AU - Loudig, Olivier
AU - Rohan, Thomas E.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 American Association for Cancer Research Inc.. All rights reserved.
PY - 2024/1/10
Y1 - 2024/1/10
N2 - A decade ago, studies in human populations first revealed the existence of a unique microbial community in the breast, a tissue historically viewed as sterile, with microbial origins seeded through the nipple and/or translocation from other body sites. Since then, research efforts have been made to characterize the microbiome in healthy and cancerous breast tissues. The purpose of this review is to summarize the current evidence for the association of the breast microbiome with breast cancer risk and progression. Briefly, while many studies have examined the breast microbiome in breast cancer patients, and compared it to the microbiome of benign breast disease tissue or normal breast tissue, these studies have varied widely in their sample sizes, methods, and quality of evidence. Thus, while several large and rigorous cross-sectional studies have provided key evidence of an altered microbiome in breast tumors compared to normal adjacent and healthy control tissue, there are few consistent patterns of perturbed microbial taxa. Additionally, only one large prospective study has provided evidence of a relationship between the breast tumor microbiota and cancer prognosis. Future research studies featuring large, well-characterized cohorts with prospective follow-up for breast cancer incidence, progression, and response to treatment are warranted.
AB - A decade ago, studies in human populations first revealed the existence of a unique microbial community in the breast, a tissue historically viewed as sterile, with microbial origins seeded through the nipple and/or translocation from other body sites. Since then, research efforts have been made to characterize the microbiome in healthy and cancerous breast tissues. The purpose of this review is to summarize the current evidence for the association of the breast microbiome with breast cancer risk and progression. Briefly, while many studies have examined the breast microbiome in breast cancer patients, and compared it to the microbiome of benign breast disease tissue or normal breast tissue, these studies have varied widely in their sample sizes, methods, and quality of evidence. Thus, while several large and rigorous cross-sectional studies have provided key evidence of an altered microbiome in breast tumors compared to normal adjacent and healthy control tissue, there are few consistent patterns of perturbed microbial taxa. Additionally, only one large prospective study has provided evidence of a relationship between the breast tumor microbiota and cancer prognosis. Future research studies featuring large, well-characterized cohorts with prospective follow-up for breast cancer incidence, progression, and response to treatment are warranted.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85181997041&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85181997041&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-23-0965
DO - 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-23-0965
M3 - Article
C2 - 37943168
AN - SCOPUS:85181997041
SN - 1055-9965
VL - 33
JO - Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention
JF - Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention
IS - 1
ER -