Oncolytic bacteria and their potential role in bacterium-mediated tumour therapy: A conceptual analysis

Abstract

As the human microbiota has been confirmed to be of great significance in maintaining health, the dominant bacteria in them have been applied as probiotics to treat various diseases. After the detection of bacteria in tumours, which had previously been considered a sterile region, these bacteria have been isolated and genetically modified for use in tumour therapy. In this review, we sum up the main types of bacteria used in tumour therapy and reveal the mechanisms of both wild type and engineered bacteria in eliminating tumour cells, providing potential possibilities for newly detected, genetically modified, tumour-associated bacteria in anti-tumour therapy.