The role of microbiota in the development and treatment of gastric cancer

Yiwen Wang; Wenjie Han; Na Wang; Mengzhen Han; Meng Ban; Jianying Dai; Yuesheng Dong; Tao Sun; Junnan Xu

doi:10.3389/fonc.2023.1224669

The role of microbiota in the development and treatment of gastric cancer

Front Oncol. 2023 Sep 29:13:1224669. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1224669. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Yiwen Wang^{1

2}, Wenjie Han^{1

2}, Na Wang^{1

2}, Mengzhen Han^{1

2}, Meng Ban³, Jianying Dai⁴, Yuesheng Dong⁴, Tao Sun^{1

5}, Junnan Xu^{1

2

5}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Breast Medicine 1, Cancer Hospital of China Medical University, Liaoning Cancer Hospital, Shenyang, China.
² Department of Pharmacology, Cancer Hospital of China Medical University, Liaoning Cancer Hospital, Shenyang, China.
³ Department of Bioinformatics, Kanghui Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Shenyang, China.
⁴ School of Bioengineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, Liaoning, China.
⁵ Department of Oncology Medicine, Key Laboratory of Liaoning Breast Cancer Research, Shenyang, Liaoning, China.

Abstract

The stomach was once considered a sterile organ until the discovery of Helicobacter pylori (HP). With the application of high-throughput sequencing technology and macrogenomics, researchers have identified fungi and fivemajor bacterial phyla within the stomachs of healthy individuals. These microbial communities exert regulatory influence over various physiological functions, including energy metabolism and immune responses. HP is a well-recognized risk factor for gastric cancer, significantly altering the stomach's native microecology. Currently, numerous studies are centered on the mechanisms by which HP contributes to gastric cancer development, primarily involving the CagA oncoprotein. However, aside from exogenous infections such as HP and EBV, certain endogenous dysbiosis can also lead to gastric cancer through multiple mechanisms. Additionally, gut microbiota and its metabolites significantly impact the development of gastric cancer. The role of microbial therapies, including diet, phages, probiotics and fecal microbiota transplantation, in treating gastric cancer should not be underestimated. This review aims to study the mechanisms involved in the roles of exogenous pathogen infection and endogenous microbiota dysbiosis in the development of gastric cancer. Also, we describe the application of microbiota therapy in the treatment and prognosis of gastric cancer.

Keywords: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV); Helicobacter pylori (HP); gastric cancer; immunotherapy; microbiota.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

This work was supported by National Nature Science Foundation of China (82373113, JX) Shenyang Breast Cancer Clinical Medical Research Center (2020-48-3-1, TS), Liaoning Cancer Hospital Yangtse River Scholars Project (TS, JX), LiaoNing Revitalization Talents Program (XLYC1907160, JX), Beijing Medical Award Foundation (YXJL-2020-0941-0752, TS), Wu Jieping Medical Foundation (320.6750.2020-12-21,320.6750.2020-6-30, TS) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (202229, ST; 202230, JX).