Advances in and reflections on bacteria-mediated oncology therapy

Abstract:

Tumor is one kind of disease that seriously endangers human health. It is a hot issue in the research of tumor therapy to explore new tumor therapy methods， improve its targeting and drug delivery efficiency，avoid tumor cell immune escape and reduce side effects. Bacteria-mediated cancer-targeted therapy is a novel experimental strategy for the treatment of cancers. Bacteria are preferentially accumulated in tumor microenvironments，characterized by hypoxia，low pH value，high permeability and immunosuppression. They can exert antitumor effects through inhibiting angiogenesis，promoting apoptosis and inhibiting immunomodulatory activity. Meanwhile，researchers can use genetic engineering techniques to modify bacteria to become engineered bacteria with higher targeting and better penetration. In addition，the emergence of using bacterial outer membrane vesicles loaded with chemotherapeutic drugs or combined with nanomaterials to fight tumors，as well as bacterial combination chemotherapy，radiotherapy， and photothermal/photodynamic therapy has led to rapid progress in research on bacterial therapy for tumors. This paper reviews the recent research progress in bacteria-mediated oncology therapy and looks forward to its future development.