TNF and neoplasm: Furthermore, several studies showed a typical GM signature in cancers, such as colorectal cancer (CRC) in which a particular strain of Fusobacterium nucleatum appears to be involved in tumor initiation and progression by inducing the local release of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-α, thus developing an immunosuppressive tumor-favoring microenvironment (Shang and Liu, 2018).