Salmonella enterica and outer membrane vesicles are current and future options for cancer treatment

Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2023 Dec 5:13:1293351. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2023.1293351. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

Conventional cancer therapies have many limitations. In the last decade, it has been suggested that bacteria-mediated immunotherapy may circumvent the restrictions of traditional treatments. For example, Salmonella enterica is the most promising bacteria for treating cancer due to its intrinsic abilities, such as killing tumor cells, targeting, penetrating, and proliferating into the tumor. S. enterica has been genetically modified to ensure safety and increase its intrinsic antitumor efficacy. This bacterium has been used as a vector for delivering anticancer agents and as a combination therapy with chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or photothermic. Recent studies have reported the antitumor efficacy of outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) derived from S. enterica. OMVs are considered safer than attenuated bacteria and can stimulate the immune system as they comprise most of the immunogens found on the surface of their parent bacteria. Furthermore, OMVs can also be used as nanocarriers for antitumor agents. This review describes the advances in S. enterica as immunotherapy against cancer and the mechanisms by which Salmonella fights cancer. We also highlight the use of OMVs as immunotherapy and nanocarriers of anticancer agents. OMVs derived from S. enterica are innovative and promising strategies requiring further investigation.

Keywords: Salmonella Typhimurium; anticancer; cancer; combination therapy; delivery vector; immunotherapy; nanocarriers; outer membrane vesicles.

Publication types

  • Review
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Antineoplastic Agents* / therapeutic use
  • Immunotherapy
  • Neoplasms* / therapy
  • Salmonella enterica*
  • Salmonella typhimurium

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. GPJ acknowledges the financial support by Departamento Administrativo de Ciencia, Tecnologia e Innovacion, grant number 2016/772 and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) grant number 2022/11399-0. MTPG acknowledges the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientıfí co e Tecnológico (CNPq), grant number 130553/2020-4, and FAPESP, grant number 2020/01535-9. MTPG was supported by a grant [88881.625374/2021-01] from the Fulbright Association and the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nıv́el Superior (CAPES) – Brazil. MB was supported by CNPq, grant numbers 309380/2019-7, 309678/2022-6, and FAPESP grant numbers 2021/ 00465-0 and 2021/10577-0.