Tumor-homing bacteria

Tumor-homing bacteria are facultative or obligate anaerobic bacteria (capable of producing ATP when oxygen is absent or is destroyed in normal oxygen levels) that are able to target cancerous cells in the body, suppress tumor growth and survive in the body for a long time even after the infection. When this type of bacteria is administered into the body, it migrates to the cancerous tissues and starts to grow, and then deploys distinct mechanisms to destroy solid tumors. Each bacteria species uses a different process to eliminate the tumor. Some common tumor homing bacteria include Salmonella, Clostridium, Bifidobacterium, Listeria, and Streptococcus.[1] The earliest research of this type of bacteria was highlighted in 1813 when scientists began observing that patients that had gas gangrene, an infection caused by the bacteria Clostridium, were able to have tumor regressions.[2]

  1. ^ Duong, Mai Thi-Quynh; Qin, Yeshan; You, Sung-Hwan; Min, Jung-Joon (December 2019). "Bacteria-cancer interactions: bacteria-based cancer therapy". Experimental & Molecular Medicine. 51 (12): 1–15. doi:10.1038/s12276-019-0297-0. ISSN 2092-6413. PMC 6906302. PMID 31827064. S2CID 209169333.
  2. ^ Zhou, Shibin; Gravekamp, Claudia; Bermudes, David; Liu, Ke (December 2018). "Tumor-targeting bacteria engineered to fight cancer". Nature Reviews. Cancer. 18 (12): 727–743. doi:10.1038/s41568-018-0070-z. ISSN 1474-175X. PMC 6902869. PMID 30405213.