Clinical applications of gut microbiota in cancer biology

Sunny H Wong; Thomas N Y Kwong; Chun-Ying Wu; Jun Yu

doi:10.1016/j.semcancer.2018.05.003

Clinical applications of gut microbiota in cancer biology

Semin Cancer Biol. 2019 Apr:55:28-36. doi: 10.1016/j.semcancer.2018.05.003. Epub 2018 May 18.

Authors

Sunny H Wong¹, Thomas N Y Kwong², Chun-Ying Wu³, Jun Yu⁴

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease, Institute of Digestive Disease, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; CUHK Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen, People's Republic of China.
² State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease, Institute of Digestive Disease, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
³ Division of Translational Research, Department of Medical Research, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, 11217, Taiwan; School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan; College of Public Health and Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan. Electronic address: cywu22@vghtpe.gov.tw.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease, Institute of Digestive Disease, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; CUHK Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: junyu@cuhk.edu.hk.

PMID: 29782923
DOI: 10.1016/j.semcancer.2018.05.003

Abstract

The involvement of microorganisms in cancer has been increasing recognized. Collectively, microorganisms have been estimated to account for ∼20% of all cancers worldwide. Recent advances in metagenomics and bioinformatics have provided new insights on the microbial ecology in different tumors, pinpointing the roles of microorganisms in cancer formation, development and response to treatments. Furthermore, studies have emphasized the importance of host-microbial and inter-microbial interactions in the cancer microbiota. These studies have not only revolutionized our understanding of cancer biology, but also opened up new opportunities for cancer prevention, diagnosis, prognostication and treatment. This review article aims to summarize the microbiota in various cancers and their treatments, and explore clinical applications for such relevance.

Keywords: Cancer; Host-microbe interaction; Metagenomics; Microbiota.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Computational Biology
Gastrointestinal Microbiome / genetics*
Humans
Metagenomics*
Neoplasms / diagnosis
Neoplasms / genetics*
Neoplasms / microbiology
Neoplasms / therapy