Title:Bugs as Drugs: Understanding the Linkage between Gut Microbiota and
Cancer Treatment
Volume: 23
Issue: 9
Author(s): Dhwani Rana, Sagar Salave, Akhil Perla, Akanksha Nadkarni, Shital Kolhe, Anil B. Jindal, Amit Mandoli, Pradeep Dwivedi*Derajram Benival*
Affiliation:
- Department of Pharmacology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jodhpur (AIIMS), Jodhpur 342005, India
- Department of Pharmaceutics, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Ahmedabad (NIPER-A), 382355, India
Keywords:
Gut microbiota, cancer, microbiome, targeted modulation, pharmacomicrobiomics, microbiome-based treatment.
Abstract:
The commensal microbiota is known to regulate host physiology. Dysbiosis or compromised
resilience in the microbial ecology is related to the impending risk of cancer. A potential link
between cancer and microbiota is indicated by a lot of evidence.
The current review explores in detail the various links leading to and /or facilitating oncogenesis,
providing sound reasoning or a basis for its utilization as potential therapeutic targets. The present
review emphasizes the existing knowledge of the microbiome in cancer and further elaborates on
the factors, like genetic modifications, effects of dietary components, and environmental agents,
that are considered to assess the direct and indirect effect of microbes in the process of oncogenesis
and on the host’s health. Strategies modulating the microbiome and novel biotherapeutics are also
discussed. Pharmacomicrobiomics is one such niche accounting for the interplay between the microbiome,
xenobiotic, and host responses, which is also looked upon.
The literature search strategy for this review was conducted by following the methodology of the
Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). The method includes
the collection of data from different search engines, like PubMed, ScienceDirect, SciFinder,
etc., to get coverage of relevant literature for accumulating appropriate information regarding microbiome,
cancer, and their linkages.
These considerations are made to expand the existing literature on the role of gut microbiota in the
host's health, the interaction between host and microbiota, and the reciprocal relationship between
the microbiome and modified neoplastic cells.
Potential therapeutic implications of cancer microbiomes that are yet unexplored and have rich therapeutic
dividends improving human health are discussed in detail in this review.