Abstract
Because of their increasing prevalence, gastrointestinal (GI) cancers are regarded as an important global health challenge. Microorganisms residing in the human GI tract, termed gut microbiota, encompass a large number of living organisms. The role of the gut in the regulation of the gut-mediated immune responses, metabolism, absorption of micro- and macro-nutrients and essential vitamins, and short-chain fatty acid production, and resistance to pathogens has been extensively investigated. In the past few decades, it has been shown that microbiota imbalance is associated with the susceptibility to various chronic disorders, such as obesity, irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, psychiatric disorders, and various types of cancer. Emerging evidence has shown that oral administration of various strains of probiotics can protect against cancer development. Furthermore, clinical investigations suggest that probiotic administration in cancer patients decreases the incidence of postoperative inflammation. The present review addresses the efficacy and underlying mechanisms of action of probiotics against GI cancers. The safety of the most commercial probiotic strains has been confirmed, and therefore these strains can be used as adjuvant or neo-adjuvant treatments for cancer prevention and improving the efficacy of therapeutic strategies. Nevertheless, well-designed clinical studies are still needed for a better understanding of the properties and mechanisms of action of probiotic strains in mitigating GI cancer development.
Highlights
The incidence of gastrointestinal (GI) neoplasms is rapidly increasing globally (Ashrafizadeh et al, 2020; Pourhanifeh et al, 2020; Shafabakhsh et al, 2021)
The results showed that the colonic lesions incidence was decreased after probiotic intervention compared with that of the control group, and these effects were more potent for L. acidophilus than for B. bifidum
Regulated insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), IGF-1R, and insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-3 (IGFBP3) protein expressions The level of TNF-α and IL-6 was reduced in colon tissue and tumor load after probiotic intervention Altered the microbial composition Reduced β-galactosidase and β-glucuronidase activities
Summary
Reviewed by: Dan-Lucian Dumitrașcu, Iuliu Haţieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Romania. Amirhossein Davoodvandi 1,2, Farzaneh Fallahi 3, Omid Reza Tamtaji 4, Vida Tajiknia 5, Zarrin Banikazemi 3, Hadis Fathizadeh 6, Mohammad Abbasi-Kolli 7, Michael Aschner 8, Maryam Ghandali 9*, Amirhossein Sahebkar 10,11*, Mohsen Taghizadeh 3 and Hamed Mirzaei 3*. Because of their increasing prevalence, gastrointestinal (GI) cancers are regarded as an important global health challenge. Emerging evidence has shown that oral administration of various strains of probiotics can protect against cancer development. The present review addresses the efficacy and underlying mechanisms of action of probiotics against GI cancers. Well-designed clinical studies are still needed for a better understanding of the properties and mechanisms of action of probiotic strains in mitigating GI cancer development
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