The Microbiome and Cancer: State of the Science Symposium 2027

Be part of the conversation advancing cancer research at The Microbiome and Cancer: State of the Science Symposium, January 11--12, 2027. This hybrid event, held both in person at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Shady Grove Campus in Rockville, MD, and online, will bring together leaders across the field to explore the current state of the science, identify critical knowledge gaps, and begin to define the key research questions that will drive progress over the next decade. The human microbiome is a dynamic ecosystem that plays a central role in health and disease. Shaped by diet, physical activity, medications, and environmental factors, it influences host physiology, immune function, metabolism, and inflammation. Growing evidence links the microbiome to cancer, with preliminary evidence that microbes may contribute to carcinogenesis through mechanisms such as DNA damage, epithelial barrier disruption, chronic inflammation, altered tissue repair, and tumor-promoting immune responses. The microbiome may also affect responses to cancer therapies and is being evaluated as a therapeutic target, including the use of engineered microbes as anti-cancer agents. The symposium is organized into eight sessions: The Gut Microbiome: Local and Systemic Effects on Carcinogenesis and Cancer Immunity; Tumor-Associated Microbes and Their Impact; Lifestyle and Dietary Influences on the Microbiome--Cancer Axis; Standards and Reproducibility in the Cancer Microbiome; Microbial Drivers of Epithelial Injury, Inflammation, and Mutations; The Gut Microbiome in Hematologic Cancer Treatment and Recovery; Microbiome-Based Strategies for Solid Tumor Immunotherapy; Next-Generation Microbiome Therapeutics for Cancer.