CD8A and neoplasm: TAMs exhibit elevated AhR activity, and in the absence of AhR, macrophages adopt a more inflammatory phenotype with a reduction in TNFα + IFNγ + CD8 + T cells.242 Thus, the gut and intratumoral microbiomes collectively form a tumor-associated microbial ecosystem that orchestrates metabolic-epigenetic-immune cascades by producing bioactive metabolites (Fig. 3f).