The Use of Bacteria in Cancer Treatment: A Review from the Perspective of Cellular Microbiology

Abstract

Cellular microbiology, which is the interaction between harmful microbes and infected cells, is important in the determination of the bacterial infection processes and in the progression of data of different cellular mechanisms. The therapeutic role of bacteria has gained attention since the known methods such as radiation, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy have got drawbacks. Bacteria have demonstrated a favorable impact in treating cancer through eradication of tumors. Bacteria, in cancer treatment, have proven to be promising and have been shown in some of the previous work that it can successfully suppress the growth of tumors. In this paper, we analyzed the difficulties and settlement for using bacteria in cancer therapy as well the mechanisms in which bacteria works in order to achieve tumor eradication. Future works may focus on the use of bacteria along with other treatments in order to achieve effective tumor therapy.

What is the role of microbial biotechnology and genetic engineering in medicine?

“…The advantage of the single-cell modification method is that it not only protects probiotic bacteria from environmental factors without compromising their activity and function but also provides additional functions to the bacteria, such as strong adhesion, antioxidant activity, and immunomodulatory capabilities (Yang, et al, 2022). have also been frequently employed to destroy tumors through different mechanisms (Mills et al, 2022). Although Gram-positive bacteria, such as lactic acid bacteria (i.e., Bifidobacterium, Listeria, Streptococcus, Lactococcus, Lactobacillus, Pediococcus, Leuconostoc), have been explored to a lesser extent than Gram-negative bacteria, these probiotic microorganisms have garnered renewed interest as cancer therapies due to the extensive genetic toolbox existing for these bacteria and their safety and beneficial status within the human body (Bron & Kleerebezem, 2018).…”

“…For example, an engineered Lactococcus lactis strain expressing a recombinant tumor metastasis-inhibiting KiSS peptide was shown to inhibit the proliferation of human colonic epithelial cancer cells (Zhang et al, 2016). A variety of mechanisms can be employed on bacteria to achieve tumor therapy, including not only the innate toxicity of some bacteria, but also other features that can be incorporated into the bacterium of choice using recombinant DNA bacteriocins that display cancer cell-specific toxicities (Mills et al, 2022).…”

“…Live attenuated strains of Salmonella are the most commonly used bacterial species in clinical trials for cancer treatment, among other reasons, because Salmonella cells can invade hypoxic tumor sites, which is crucial for the destruction of tumor cells. Other Gram‐negative bacteria belonging to the genera Pseudomonas, Klebsiella, Caulobacter, Escherichia , and Proteus have also been frequently employed to destroy tumors through different mechanisms (Mills et al, 2022 ). Although Gram‐positive bacteria, such as lactic acid bacteria (i.e., Bifidobacterium , Listeria , Streptococcus , Lactococcus , Lactobacillus , Pediococcus , Leuconostoc ), have been explored to a lesser extent than Gram‐negative bacteria, these probiotic microorganisms have garnered renewed interest as cancer therapies due to the extensive genetic toolbox existing for these bacteria and their safety and beneficial status within the human body (Bron & Kleerebezem, 2018 ).…”

Harnessing Bacterial Extracellular Vesicle Immune Effects for Cancer Therapy

“…Initial efforts to harness microbes for cancer treatment included developing oncolytic bacteria and bacteria expressing cytotoxic proteins or tumor-specific antigens [ 83 , 84 ]. Accumulating research has demonstrated that several bacterial species can potentially eliminate tumors by direct bacterial cytotoxicity, enhanced host immune response, and production of enzymes, bacteriocins, and toxins that disrupt the proliferation of cancer cells [ 85 ]. Attenuated Salmonella typhimurium and Clostridium novy , which were modified to express HlyE, Stx2, and recA, resulted in stimulation of the host immune response, leading to the activation of cytokines such as IL-2, IL-4, IL-18, and CCL21, ultimately resulting in tumor regression and necrosis in preclinical models of various solid tumors [ 86 , 87 ].…”

The Effect of Recombinant Fusion Peptide Capsular Biosynthesizing Enzymes A, C Streptococcus agalactiae and Anti-Cancer Peptide against Cell Line Hela by Real-time RT- PCR and Flow cytometry

“…Many bacteria, including Clostridium, Bi dobacterium, Salmonella, and Streptococcus agalactiae have anti-cancer properties [11][12], which is due to the increase in the production of polysaccharides, toxins, or enzymes [13]. For example, Streptococcus agalactiae, which is part of the vaginal normal ora of women, prevents cells from becoming cancerous by producing proteins and polysaccharides [14][15][16]. Bacterial proteins have a positive charge that reacts with phosphatidylserine on the surface of cancer cells [17] and causes the death of these cells because of electrostatic forces [18].…”