Pan-cancer analyses reveal cancer-type-specific fungal ecologies and bacteriome interactions

Summary

Cancer-microbe associations have been explored for centuries, but cancer-associated fungi have rarely been examined. Here, we comprehensively characterize the cancer mycobiome within 17,401 patient tissue, blood, and plasma samples across 35 cancer types in four independent cohorts. We report fungal DNA and cells at low abundances across many major human cancers, with differences in community compositions that differ among cancer types, even when accounting for technical background. Fungal histological staining of tissue microarrays supported intratumoral presence and frequent spatial association with cancer cells and macrophages. Comparing intratumoral fungal communities with matched bacteriomes and immunomes revealed co-occurring bi-domain ecologies, often with permissive, rather than competitive, microenvironments and distinct immune responses. Clinically focused assessments suggested prognostic and diagnostic capacities of the tissue and plasma mycobiomes, even in stage I cancers, and synergistic predictive performance with bacteriomes.

Graphical abstract

Highlights

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  Fungi were detected in 35 cancer types and were often intracellular

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  Multiple fungal-bacterial-immune ecologies were detected across tumors

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  Intratumoral fungi stratified clinical outcomes, including immunotherapy response

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  Cell-free fungal DNA diagnosed healthy and cancer patients in early-stage disease

Abstract

Characterization of fungi across multiple sample types and patient cohorts across 35 cancer types reveals their distribution, association with immune cell types, and potential prognostic value, including synergy with bacteria.