Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Research Highlight
  • Published:

Antitumour immunity

Probiotics promote local antitumour immunity

Nature Reviews Immunology volume 23, page 343 (2023)Cite this article

Subjects

The gut microbiome is an important factor determining the success of immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy, and patients with cancer are increasingly turning to probiotics to support their treatment. But this link is poorly understood. Now, a study published in Cell shows that the common probiotic bacterium Lactobacillus reuteri translocates to melanomas in mice, where it stimulates antitumour CD8+ T cells by metabolizing dietary tryptophan to indole-3-aldehyde (I3A), a ligand of aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR).

Recent studies have shown that various gut-distal tumours harbour live bacteria, so the authors investigated the tumour microbiome in their melanoma model. They detected a diverse array of viable bacteria within tumours; compared with control mice, L. reuteri-treated mice showed reduced microbial diversity owing to enrichment of L. reuteri. The authors suggest L. reuteri translocates from the gut to the tumour and other systemic tissues, via vascular or lymphatic routes, independent of impaired intestinal barrier integrity and an established microbiome. Confirming this local antitumour effect, intratumoural injection of L. reuteri significantly suppressed tumour growth, increased intratumoural Tc1 cell frequencies and prolonged mouse survival.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

Original article

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nature Reviews Immunology http://www.nature.com/nri/

    Lucy Bird

Authors
  1. Lucy Bird
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lucy Bird.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Bird, L. Probiotics promote local antitumour immunity. Nat Rev Immunol 23, 343 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41577-023-00882-w

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Version of record:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41577-023-00882-w

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing: Cancer

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Cancer newsletter — what matters in cancer research, free to your inbox weekly.

Get what matters in cancer research, free to your inbox weekly. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Cancer