Role of Bacteria in the Incidence of Common GIT Cancers: The Dialectical Role of Integrated Bacterial DNA in Human Carcinogenesis

Infect Drug Resist. 2021 Jun 1:14:2003-2014. doi: 10.2147/IDR.S309051. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

Despite the wide medical knowledge about the direct role of many viruses in the pathogenesis of certain cancers, there is still ambiguity and hazy vision about the direct role of bacteria in cancer incidence. Understanding the role of bacteria in carcinogenesis is no longer a scientific luxury, but it has become an urgent and extremely important necessity to realize the pathogenesis of cancer caused by oncogenic bacteria as an attempt to overcome the oncogenic mechanisms exhibited by these oncogenic bacteria. This review shed the light on the indirect role of the host's inflammatory and immunological responses in the pathogenesis of bacteria-induced cancer. Also, this review discussed the indirect role of the bacterial toxins and virulence factors in the induction of common gastrointestinal cancers, such as gallbladder cancer (GBC), colorectal cancer (CRC), and gastric cancer (GC). Finally, this review dealt with the debate about the possibility of bacterial DNA integration into the human genome and cancer incidence.

Keywords: DNA; cancer; gall bladder cancer; genome; oncogenic bacteria.

Publication types

  • Review

Grants and funding

The current work was funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research, Taif University, KSA, Program of Research Groups under Grant No. (1-441-104).