The presence of some fungal species in tumors predicts—and may even help drive—worse cancer outcomes, according to a study from Weill Cornell Medicine and Duke University researchers.

The study, which appears Sept. 29 in Cell, provides a scientific framework to develop tests to delineate in tumors specific fungal species that are relevant for prediction of cancer progression and therapy. The results also point to the possibility of using antifungal treatments to augment conventional cancer treatments in some cases.

"These findings open up a lot of exciting research directions, from the development of diagnostics and treatments to studies of the detailed biological mechanisms of fungal relationships to cancers," said senior author Dr. Iliyan Iliev, associate professor of immunology in medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and a member of the Jill Roberts Institute for Research in Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Weill Cornell Medicine.

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