The Cancer Microbiome
Our microbiome affects several aspects of cancer, and even tumors themselves have a distinct microbiome
Mini me’s
By now, we have all heard the term ‘microbiome’. It’s invaded the popular media. We read that our microbiome can make us sick, healthy, obese, lean, happy, sad, and it can even shape our personality traits.
The microbiome is hot, and rightfully so. The tiny tenants inhabiting us are increasingly being linked to various aspects of our lives.
But before we proceed to the topic of this post, two clarifications.
Microbiome is a general term that is used to refer to any microbial community that lives in or on a multicellular organism. So we have a skin microbiome (even a distinct armpit microbiome), nasal microbiome, gut microbiome… In the popular press, microbiome is also sometimes used specifically to refer to the gut microbiome.
Second, the (gut) microbiome is implicated in a lot of processes, from how we process our food, over our propensity for certain diseases, to our personality traits. But causation is not correlation. Does the microbiome cause any of those things, or do diseases/personality/food habits shape the microbiome? Probably a bit of both, which makes it very hard to pinpoint…
