Microbes linked to cancer in threatened California foxes, report Princeton researchers

(Princeton University) Microbes are known to affect digestion, mood and overall health, but cancer? A Princeton University-led team of researchers lay out a multi-step process: First, Santa Catalina foxes become infested with ear mites, which change the foxes' microbiome and allow a staph infection to take hold. The antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius infection leads to chronic inflammation of the foxes' ears -- and in that inflamed tissue, tumors can flourish.