Tying small changes to large outcomes: The cautious promise in incorporating the microbiome into immunotherapy

Abstract

The role of the microbiome in immunology is a rapidly burgeoning topic of study. Given the increasing use of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy in cancers, along with the recogni-tion that carcinogenesis has been linked to dysregulations of the immune system, much attention is now directed at potentiation of ICI efficacy, as well as minimizing the incidence of treatment‐asso-ciated immune‐related adverse events (irAEs). We provide an overview of the major research estab-lishing links between the microbiome to tumorigenesis, chemotherapy and radiation potentiation, and ICI efficacy and irAE development.