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. 2024 Aug 31;16(17):3040. doi: 10.3390/cancers16173040

Table 1.

Bacteria differentially represented in normal vs. tumorous breast tissues.

Normal Breast Breast Cancer
Microbes Levels Functions Ref. Microbes Levels Functions Ref.
Sphingomonas Higher Degrades environmental carcinogens, aromatic hydrocarbons, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; protective against ER+ breast cancer [24,28] Fusobacterium nucleatum Higher Promotes breast cancer cell attachment, invasion, and colonization during metastasis; impairs immunity and therapy response; activates β-catenin-mediated oncogene transcription and cell proliferation; produces β-lactamase for resistance to β-lactam antibiotics (e.g., penicillin) [24,29,30,31]
Firmicutes,
Actinobacteria
Higher Negatively correlate with stromal fibrosis and breast cancer risk; enriched in breast milk [32,33,34]
Lactobacillaceae, Acetobacterraceae,
Leuconostocaceae Xanthomonadaceae
Higher Induce fructose and mannose metabolism and immune-related genes; enriched in breast milk of healthy women [35,36,37] Enterobacteriaceae, Staphylococcus Higher Induce DNA double-strand breaks in host cells [38,39]
Ralstonia Higher Dysregulates genes involved in carbohydrate metabolism [35]
Cyanobacteria Higher Produce anti-cancer molecules (e.g., Cryptophycin F) [40] Atopobium, Gluconacetobacter Higher Modulate immunological responses [24,41,42]
Proteobacteria, Synergistetes, Tenericutes Higher Regulate milk composition and production [43,44] Porphyromonadaceae, Ruminococcaceae Higher Participate in aberrant host metabolism [40,45,46]
Prevotellaceae,
Butyricimonas
Higher Produce short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) (propionate and butyrate) that exert anti-tumor activities [40,47,48,49] Sutterella,
Verrucomicrobiaceae
Higher Also found in cecal microbiota [40,50,51]
Acinetobacter Higher Abundant in HR+ and HER2+ breast cancer [40,52]
Flavobacterium,
Hydrogenophaga
Higher Abundant in metastatic breast cancer [40,53,54]
Alcaligenaceae, Moraxellaceae,
Parabacteroides
Higher Enriched in breast milk [40,55] Akkermansia (phylum Verrucomicrobia),
Thermia
Higher Abundant in TNBC [40,56]