# Hallmark (2022): polymorphic microbiomes

Source: https://onco.cc/terms/polymorphic-microbiomes/  
OnCo record `polymorphic-microbiomes` (Term). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

The bacteria living in and around us differ from person to person and influence cancer risk, progression, and how well treatments work.

## Summary

Polymorphic microbiomes, a hallmark added in 2022, captures the fact that the bacteria living in and around us differ from person to person and influence cancer risk, progression and how well treatments work. Gut microbiota modulate the response to immunotherapy, intratumoural bacteria drive inflammation and chemoresistance, and colibactin leaves mutational signatures, all covered in the Microbiome-tumour interactions pathway. Faecal microbiota transplantation and defined consortia are in trials, a theme developed in the idea Microbiome transplant as a routine immunotherapy adjunct and the entry on Dietary fibre and the gut microbiome. Readers reach it from the Hallmarks of Cancer overview, the 2022 hallmarks paper and the Gut microbiome diversity and composition entry.

## Fields

- Kind: Term
- Last checked: 2026-09-08
- Tags: hallmark

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hallmarks_of_Cancer
- Hanahan, Hallmarks of Cancer: New Dimensions (Cancer Discovery 2022): https://doi.org/10.1158/2159-8290.CD-21-1059

## Connected records

- pathways: [Microbiome-tumour interactions](https://onco.cc/pathways/microbiome-tumour/)
- terms: [Gut microbiome diversity and composition](https://onco.cc/terms/gut-microbiome-diversity/), [Hallmarks of Cancer](https://onco.cc/terms/hallmarks-of-cancer/), [Hallmarks of cancer as a synthesis of the theories](https://onco.cc/terms/hallmarks-synthesis/)
- ideas: [Microbiome transplant as a routine immunotherapy adjunct](https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-microbiome-io-fmt/)
- key papers: [Hallmarks of Cancer 2022: adding phenotypic plasticity, epigenetic reprogramming, microbiomes and senescent cells](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-hallmarks-new-dimensions-cancer-discov-2022/)
- technologies: [Dietary fibre and the gut microbiome for immunotherapy response](https://onco.cc/technologies/dietary-fibre-microbiome-io/)

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