Aim: To explore the role of vaginal microecology in cervical cancer, so as to increase the understanding of cervical cancer and lay a foundation for future large-sample clinical trials.
Methods: We reviewed and summarized the literature comprehensively, and discussed the relationship between vaginal microecology and HPV infection, CIN progression and cervical cancer, as well as the potential molecular mechanism and the prospects of probiotics and prebiotics in future cancer treatments.
Results: With the popularization of high-throughput sequencing technology and the development of bioinformatics analysis technology, many evidences show that the increase in the diversity of the bacterial community in the vaginal microecological environment and the decrease in the number of Lactobacilli are associated with the continuous infection of HPV and the further development of CIN, cervical cancer-related.
Conclusions: Vaginal microecological imbalance has an important impact on the occurrence and development of cervical cancer. However, the pathogenesis is not completely clear, and more high-level basic research and longitudinal clinical studies are needed to verify.
Keywords: cervical cancer; cervical intraepithelial neoplasia; human papillomavirus; lactobacillus species; probiotics; vaginal microbiome.
© 2022 Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology.