Microbiota and cancer: current understanding and mechanistic implications

Abstract

During last few decades, role of microbiota and its importance in several diseases has been a hot topic for research. The microbiota is considered as an accessory organ for maintaining normal physiology of an individual. These microbiota organisms which normally colonize several epithelial surfaces are known to secrete several small molecules leading to local and systemic effects on normal biological processes. The role of microbiota is also established in carcinogenesis as per several recent findings. The effects of microbiota on cancer is not only limited to their contribution in oncogenesis, but the overall susceptibility for oncogenesis and its subsequent progression, development of coinfections, and response to anticancer therapy is also found to be affected by microbiota. The information about microbiota and subsequent contributions of microbes in anticancer response motivated researchers in development of microbes-based anticancer therapeutics. We provided current status of microbiota contribution in oncogenesis with special reference to their mechanistic implications in different aspects of oncogenesis. In addition, the mechanistic implications of bacteria in anticancer therapy are also discussed. We conclude that several mechanisms of microbiota-mediated regulation of oncogenesis is known, but approaches must be focused on understanding contribution of microbiota as a community rather than single organisms-mediated effects.

Keywords: Anticancer; Carcinogenesis; Infection; Microbiome; Pharmacomicrobiomics.

Fig. 1

Role of microbiota and individual microbiota components in carcinogenesis. The figure is divided in three sections and cancer-associated mechanisms are generally shown with red color while microbial components are shown with green color. Section A indicates influence of microbiota on cell growth or apoptosis related process, while section B and C indicate towards metabolic influence of microbiota and mechanisms associated with individual microbes on carcinogenesis, respectively