Fusobacterium, quiescent niches, and therapy response in colorectal cancer.

In this issue of Cancer Cell, Galeano Niño et al. report that tumor-infiltrating bacteria like Fusobacterium species induce a quiescent, chemoresistant state in cancer cells in the colon by disrupting epithelial contacts and suppressing proliferation and transcription. These studies highlight microbial-tumor interactions as potential modulators of therapeutic response in colon cancer.