A further axis of our research is the response of the human host to acute and chronic infection and how this response can shape cancer development secondary to infection. We have comprehensively characterized bacterial and viral genomes in over 3000 whole genome datasets of cancer tissue (Borchmann et al. 2020, bioRxiv). This work has generated many leads of potential novel interactions between bacteria, viruses, and cancer. Interestingly, the detection of certain viral or bacterial genera, such as Mastadenovirus C or Gordonia polyisoprenivorans was associated with characteristic changes in gene expression that could also be reflective of a change in the tumour immune microenvironment. Future research will follow up on these leads and further investigate and characterize specific associations.