Abstract
The past two decades witnessed a revolution in our understanding of host–microbiota interactions that led to the concept of the super-organism consisting of a eukaryotic part and a prokaryotic part. Owing to the critical role of gut microbiota in modulating the host immune system, it is not beyond all expectations that more and more evidence indicated that the shift of gut microbiota influenced responses to numerous forms of cancer immunotherapy. Therapy targeting gut microbiota is becoming a promising strategy to improve cancer immunotherapy. In this review, we discuss the role of the gut microbiota in response to cancer immunotherapy, the mechanisms that the gut microbiota influences cancer immunotherapy, and therapeutic strategies targeting gut microbiota to improve cancer immunotherapy.
Highlights
Over the past decades, immunotherapy has emerged as a mainstay in cancer treatment, with the advances in our understanding of cancer immunosuppressive microenvironments
Since immunotherapy was approved by US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), increasing clinical studies revealed the association between the gut microbiota and response to immunotherapy
Microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs), molecular mimicry of microbial antigens with tumor neoantigen, and microbial metabolites were key factors that gut microbiota depends on to influence the response of cancer immunotherapy
Summary
Immunotherapy has emerged as a mainstay in cancer treatment, with the advances in our understanding of cancer immunosuppressive microenvironments. Basing on the solid clinical association, the causal/mechanistic link of gut microbiota and immunotherapy was uncovered with preclinical models. More and more preclinical and clinical evidence indicated that the shift of gut microbiota influenced responses to numerous forms of cancer immunotherapy [4]. Therapeutic strategies targeting gut microbiota, including fecal microbiota transplant (FMT), diet, probiotics, and antibiotics, are regarded as promising candidates in improving cancer immunotherapies. Numerous clinical trials were performed to explore effective strategies to benefit cancer immunotherapy via improving gut. This review will mine the gut microbiota for cancer immunotherapy via summarizing and discussing the clinical-associated and causal/mechanistic links and clinical trials of gut microbiota and cancer immunotherapy, comparing the advantages and disadvantages of therapeutic strategies targeting the gut microbiota
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