Science Spotlight: Microbiome biomarkers show promise in GI cancer

Two recent papers make the case that microbiome profiling could become a clinically useful biomarker in gastrointestinal cancer, both for predicting relapse after surgery and for non-invasive screening.

Researchers from the University of Chicago showed in Nature Communications that colorectal cancer patients who later developed postoperative recurrence carried a distinct, antibiotic-resistant gut bacterial community at the time of surgery...