From dysbiosis to tumorigenesis: microbiome-derived metabolites as emerging cancer biomarkers.

Authors

Anbalagan Sanjana, Pragasam Viswanathan

Published in

Frontiers in microbiology. Volume 17. Pages 1843755. Epub Jun 17, 2026.

Abstract

The gut microbiome constitutes a complex and metabolically active ecosystem that exerts profound effects on host physiology through the production of diverse small-molecule metabolites. Increasing evidence indicates that microbiome-derived metabolites function as a critical bridge linking microbial dysbiosis with tumor initiation, progression, immune modulation, and therapeutic responsiveness. Alterations in microbial metabolic outputs, including short-chain fatty acids, secondary bile acids, polyamines, indole derivatives, and other bioactive compounds, can influence epithelial barrier integrity, inflammatory signaling, epigenetic regulation, and genomic stability within the tumor microenvironment. These metabolites serve as functional intermediaries in host-microbe communication and may contribute to systemic metabolic and immunological changes that support tumorigenesis across multiple malignancies. Notably, many microbiome-associated metabolites are detectable in accessible biological matrices such as stool, blood, and urine, highlighting their potential utility as minimally invasive biomarkers for cancer risk screening, diagnosis, and prognosis. Recent advances in high-throughput sequencing, metabolomics, and multi-omics integration have enabled comprehensive characterization of microbial metabolic networks associated with cancer development. In this review, we synthesize current insights into the functional diversity of microbiome-derived metabolites and their mechanistic roles in tumor biology. We further examine analytical platforms used for metabolite profiling and discuss emerging strategies for microbiome-targeted therapeutic modulation. Finally, we outline current methodological challenges and research priorities necessary for translating microbiome-metabolite interactions into clinically actionable frameworks for precision oncology.

PMID:
42388316
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 17 Sep 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.