Microbiota transplantation: Targeting cancer treatment

Abstract

Mounting evidence have demonstrated that gut microbiota plays a critical role in cancer patients' therapeutic responses to chemotherapy, radiotherapy and immunotherapy, including clinical efficacy and sensitivity to toxicity. These fascinating findings evoke a possibility of manipulating gut microbiota to optimize anti-cancer treatment from bench to beside. Microbiota transplantation (MT), including fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) and selective microbiota transplantation (SMT), may improve the effect of anti-cancer treatment and/or reduce the related side effects. The safety and efficacy of MT in cancer treatment are the core of translational research in this promising field, which inspire us to focus on the MT technology and mechanism of MT targeting anti-cancer treatment. To perform clean FMT based on automatic methods by machine in exclusive laboratory has become true. Colonic transendoscopic enteral tubing as a novel delivering way for MT should bring convenience for frequent delivering in practice and feasible tool for confirming the therapeutic effect in research. The present review focuses on the recent findings on role of microbiota on chemotherapy, radiotherapy and immunotherapy, and the methodology, feasibility and challenges of MT in anti-cancer treatment.

Keywords: Cancer; Chemotherapy; Immunotherapy; Microbiota transplantation; Radiotherapy; Transendoscopic enteral tubing.