Microbes as Medicines: Harnessing the Power of Bacteria in Advancing Cancer Treatment
Conventional anti-cancer therapy involves the use of chemical chemotherapeutics and radiation and are often non-specific in action. The development of drug resistance and the inability of the drug to penetrate the tumor cells has been a major pitfall in current treatment. This has led to the investi...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-10-01
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Series: | International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
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Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/21/20/7575 |
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author | Shruti S. Sawant Suyash M. Patil Vivek Gupta Nitesh K. Kunda |
author_facet | Shruti S. Sawant Suyash M. Patil Vivek Gupta Nitesh K. Kunda |
author_sort | Shruti S. Sawant |
collection | DOAJ |
description | Conventional anti-cancer therapy involves the use of chemical chemotherapeutics and radiation and are often non-specific in action. The development of drug resistance and the inability of the drug to penetrate the tumor cells has been a major pitfall in current treatment. This has led to the investigation of alternative anti-tumor therapeutics possessing greater specificity and efficacy. There is a significant interest in exploring the use of microbes as potential anti-cancer medicines. The inherent tropism of the bacteria for hypoxic tumor environment and its ability to be genetically engineered as a vector for gene and drug therapy has led to the development of bacteria as a potential weapon against cancer. In this review, we will introduce bacterial anti-cancer therapy with an emphasis on the various mechanisms involved in tumor targeting and tumor suppression. The bacteriotherapy approaches in conjunction with the conventional cancer therapy can be effective in designing novel cancer therapies. We focus on the current progress achieved in bacterial cancer therapies that show potential in advancing existing cancer treatment options and help attain positive clinical outcomes with minimal systemic side-effects. |
first_indexed | 2024-03-10T15:38:29Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-5c6e43cd38fd48548233bd445ebbda27 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 1661-6596 1422-0067 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-03-10T15:38:29Z |
publishDate | 2020-10-01 |
publisher | MDPI AG |
record_format | Article |
series | International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
spelling | doaj.art-5c6e43cd38fd48548233bd445ebbda272023-11-20T17:00:57ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Molecular Sciences1661-65961422-00672020-10-012120757510.3390/ijms21207575Microbes as Medicines: Harnessing the Power of Bacteria in Advancing Cancer TreatmentShruti S. Sawant0Suyash M. Patil1Vivek Gupta2Nitesh K. Kunda3Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, St. John’s University, Jamaica, NY 11439, USADepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, St. John’s University, Jamaica, NY 11439, USADepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, St. John’s University, Jamaica, NY 11439, USADepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, St. John’s University, Jamaica, NY 11439, USAConventional anti-cancer therapy involves the use of chemical chemotherapeutics and radiation and are often non-specific in action. The development of drug resistance and the inability of the drug to penetrate the tumor cells has been a major pitfall in current treatment. This has led to the investigation of alternative anti-tumor therapeutics possessing greater specificity and efficacy. There is a significant interest in exploring the use of microbes as potential anti-cancer medicines. The inherent tropism of the bacteria for hypoxic tumor environment and its ability to be genetically engineered as a vector for gene and drug therapy has led to the development of bacteria as a potential weapon against cancer. In this review, we will introduce bacterial anti-cancer therapy with an emphasis on the various mechanisms involved in tumor targeting and tumor suppression. The bacteriotherapy approaches in conjunction with the conventional cancer therapy can be effective in designing novel cancer therapies. We focus on the current progress achieved in bacterial cancer therapies that show potential in advancing existing cancer treatment options and help attain positive clinical outcomes with minimal systemic side-effects.https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/21/20/7575bacteriotherapycancer therapytumor targetingbacterial vectorsbacterial tumor immunotherapyprodrug therapy |
spellingShingle | Shruti S. Sawant Suyash M. Patil Vivek Gupta Nitesh K. Kunda Microbes as Medicines: Harnessing the Power of Bacteria in Advancing Cancer Treatment International Journal of Molecular Sciences bacteriotherapy cancer therapy tumor targeting bacterial vectors bacterial tumor immunotherapy prodrug therapy |
title | Microbes as Medicines: Harnessing the Power of Bacteria in Advancing Cancer Treatment |
title_full | Microbes as Medicines: Harnessing the Power of Bacteria in Advancing Cancer Treatment |
title_fullStr | Microbes as Medicines: Harnessing the Power of Bacteria in Advancing Cancer Treatment |
title_full_unstemmed | Microbes as Medicines: Harnessing the Power of Bacteria in Advancing Cancer Treatment |
title_short | Microbes as Medicines: Harnessing the Power of Bacteria in Advancing Cancer Treatment |
title_sort | microbes as medicines harnessing the power of bacteria in advancing cancer treatment |
topic | bacteriotherapy cancer therapy tumor targeting bacterial vectors bacterial tumor immunotherapy prodrug therapy |
url | https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/21/20/7575 |
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