Bacterial infection and associated cancers

Abstract

Bacterial infections were traditionally not considered as major causes of cancer. However, increasing evidence in the past decades has suggested that several cancers are highly associated with bacterial infection. The bacterial infections have evolved some unique strategies including lateral gene transfer, biofilm and microbiome to induce genome instability and chronic inflammation, as well as escape of immune surveillance for carcinogenesis. Here we summarize and highlight the recent progress on understanding of how bacterial infection plays a role in tumor formation and malignancy.