Metagenomics: A new horizon in cancer research

Metagenomics has broadened the scope of targeting microbes responsible for inducing various types of cancers. About 16.1% of cancers are associated with microbial infection. Metagenomics is an equitable way of identifying and studyingmicro-organismswithin their habitat. In cancer research, this approach has revolutionized the way of identifying, analyzing and targeting the microbial diversity present in the tissue specimens of cancer patients. The genomic analyses of these micro-organisms through next generation sequencing techniques invariably facilitate in recognizing the microbial population in biopsies and their evolutionary relationships with each other. In this review an attempt has been made to generate current metagenomic view on cancer microbiota. Different types of micro-organisms have been found to be linked to various types of cancers, thus, contributing significantly in understanding the disease at molecular level. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.