Role of Probiotics in Pancreatic Cancer Prevention: The Prospects and Challenges

Abstract

Pancreatic cancer is expressed as a disorder of chaos that leads to impairment in biochemical and metabolic physiology of pancreas. It is considered as the most intractable and fatal among all gastrointestinal (GI) cancers. The early occurrence of metastatic spread and the development of intrinsic and acquired resistance during drug treatment limit its prognosis at the right time. The universalized treatment involves surgical resection in which only a minority (<20%) of patients qualify due to advanced stage of disease at the time of diagnosis. Despite the rigorous technological developments in understanding the molecular mechanism of pancreatic cancer, no significant advances in efficacy of chemotherapeutic treatment have been arisen till date and still present challenges to overcome. That leads to the scientists to undergo exhaustive research to find an alternative treatment and increasing focus have been given on the studies of symbiotic relationships between microbiota and host which confers benefits to the host in many key aspects of life and form a synergistic harmony so called “super-organism”. The perturbations in the regulatory circuits of the host that control homeostasis, or alterations of the microbiome, through environmental changes (infection, diet or lifestyle), may disturb this symbiotic relationship and favors carcinogenesis in the pancreas. Research studies speculating convincing evidence that, among the gut microbiota, probiotics have demonstrated their potential role in the prevention of all stages of cancer development, but the critical question has been arisen that Can probiotics be used as preventive targets for pancreatic cancer? Thus, the efforts have been directed towards to summarize the prospective and challenging role of probiotics as preventive approach for pancreatic cancer.