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MELANOMA

Key role for microbiota in gut–bone crosstalk

Nature Reviews Cancer volume 22, pages 494–495 (2022)Cite this article

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A healthy gut microbiome retards the progression of melanoma lesions in bone, according to new data published by Pal et al. Their study shows that expansion of natural killer (NK) cells and T helper type 1 (TH1) cells — two lineages already known to be involved in anticancer immunity and regulated by the gut microbiome — within melanoma-bearing bones is dependent on the gut microbiome, which affects the number and egress of these immune cells from the gut.

The researchers used intracardiac or intratibial injections of the luciferase-expressing B16-F10 melanoma cell line in C57BL/6 mice. Intracardiac inoculation resulted in both skeletal and systemic metastases, whereas intratibial inoculation produced localized bone tumour only. Bone loss and tumour burden were both substantially higher in mice receiving antibiotics in their drinking water, versus control mice without antibiotics. Nonabsorbable and absorbable antibiotics showed identical effects, indicating that these immune cell-driven mechanisms were initiated in the gut lumen.

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Original article

  • Pal, S. et al. The microbiome restrains melanoma bone growth by promoting intestinal NK and Th1 cell homing to bone. J. Clin. Invest. 132, e157340 (2022)

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  1. Nature Reviews Cancer http://www.nature.com/nrc/

    Caroline Barranco

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  1. Caroline Barranco
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Correspondence to Caroline Barranco.

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Barranco, C. Key role for microbiota in gut–bone crosstalk. Nat Rev Cancer 22, 494–495 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41568-022-00504-y

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