Researchers at MD Anderson Cancer Center reported that Fusobacterium nucleatum can invade tumor epithelial compartments and induce a reversible quiescent state that reduces epithelial signaling, blunts immune detection and reduces chemotherapy sensitivity in oral and colorectal cancers. The work, published in Cancer Cell and validated across spatial transcriptomics and preclinical models, describes bacteria settling between cancer cells to disrupt intercellular communication and induce cell-cycle arrest. Spatial analyses in human tumor cohorts linked higher Fusobacterium abundance with suppressed expression of immune-detection genes and poorer treatment response. The authors propose that microbe‑aware therapeutic strategies—ranging from microbiome modulation to adjunct antimicrobials—could be tested to reverse quiescence and resensitize tumors to standard therapies. Clarification: quiescence refers to a temporary, nonproliferative cell state that can protect cancer cells from cytotoxic chemotherapy which preferentially kills dividing cells.