Diet-gut Microbial Interactions Influence Cancer Immunotherapy

Overview

Journal Front Oncol

Specialty Oncology

Date 2023 Apr 10

PMID 37035188

Authors

Xue Wang

Shitao Geng

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The gut microbiome is involved in the absorption and metabolism of host nutrients and modulates the immune response, affecting the efficacy of immunotherapy for cancer. In patients receiving immunotherapy, appropriate modifications of gut microbiota are thought to improve therapeutic response. Of all the factors that influence the gut microbiota, diet is the most influential and modifiable. Healthy dietary patterns as well as some specific dietary components can help the growth of beneficial microbiota in the gut, thereby protecting against cancers and promoting human health. A growing number of researches have confirmed the positive effects of a diet-gut microbiota approach as an adjuvant therapy for cancer, but controversy remains. Here, we summarize the interactions between diet and gut microbes based on previous studies, and discuss the role of gut microbiota-based dietary strategies in tumor immunotherapy, with the potential mechanisms of actions also intensively discussed.

Citing Articles

Modulating tumor immunity using advanced microbiome therapeutics producing an indole metabolite.

Vaaben T, Lutzhoft D, Koulouktsis A, Dawoodi I, Stavnsbjerg C, Kvich L EMBO Rep. 2025; .

PMID: 40055466 DOI: 10.1038/s44319-025-00386-9.

Ketogenic diet and cancer: multidimensional exploration and research.

Wan S, Zhou X, Xie F, Zhou F, Zhang L Sci China Life Sci. 2025; .

PMID: 39821829 DOI: 10.1007/s11427-023-2637-2.

An exploratory study of a multi-species probiotic formulation and markers of health in a real-world oncological cohort in the time of covid.

Thomsen M, Vemuri R, Huygens F, Clarke S, Vitetta L Inflammopharmacology. 2024; 32(4):2317-2335.

PMID: 38926298 PMC: 11300539. DOI: 10.1007/s10787-024-01503-1.

Mechanism-guided fine-tuned microbiome potentiates anti-tumor immunity in HCC.

Liu T, Guo Y, Yanxia Liao , Liu J Front Immunol. 2024; 14:1333864.

PMID: 38169837 PMC: 10758498. DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1333864.

Circadian lifestyle determinants of immune checkpoint inhibitor efficacy.

Hughes B, Shanaz S, Ismail-Sutton S, Wreglesworth N, Subbe C, Innominato P Front Oncol. 2023; 13:1284089.

PMID: 38111535 PMC: 10727689. DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1284089.

References

Reuter S, Gupta S, Chaturvedi M, Aggarwal B . Oxidative stress, inflammation, and cancer: how are they linked?. Free Radic Biol Med. 2010; 49(11):1603-16. PMC: 2990475. DOI: 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2010.09.006. View

Sannino D, Dobson A, Edwards K, Angert E, Buchon N . The Gut Microbiota Provisions Thiamine to Its Host. mBio. 2018; 9(2). PMC: 5845000. DOI: 10.1128/mBio.00155-18. View

Shin S, Kim S, You H, Kim B, Kim A, Lee K . Drosophila microbiome modulates host developmental and metabolic homeostasis via insulin signaling. Science. 2011; 334(6056):670-4. DOI: 10.1126/science.1212782. View

Ghiringhelli F, Rebe C, Hichami A, Delmas D . Immunomodulation and anti-inflammatory roles of polyphenols as anticancer agents. Anticancer Agents Med Chem. 2012; 12(8):852-73. DOI: 10.2174/187152012802650048. View

De Almeida C, de Camargo M, Russo E, Amedei A . Role of diet and gut microbiota on colorectal cancer immunomodulation. World J Gastroenterol. 2019; 25(2):151-162. PMC: 6337022. DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v25.i2.151. View

Ma C, Han M, Heinrich B, Fu Q, Zhang Q, Sandhu M . Gut microbiome-mediated bile acid metabolism regulates liver cancer via NKT cells. Science. 2018; 360(6391). PMC: 6407885. DOI: 10.1126/science.aan5931. View

Weber D, Aminazdeh-Gohari S, Kofler B . Ketogenic diet in cancer therapy. Aging (Albany NY). 2018; 10(2):164-165. PMC: 5842847. DOI: 10.18632/aging.101382. View

Hollands A, Corriden R, Gysler G, Dahesh S, Olson J, Ali S . Natural Product Anacardic Acid from Cashew Nut Shells Stimulates Neutrophil Extracellular Trap Production and Bactericidal Activity. J Biol Chem. 2016; 291(27):13964-13973. PMC: 4933157. DOI: 10.1074/jbc.M115.695866. View

Maggini S, Pierre A, Calder P . Immune Function and Micronutrient Requirements Change over the Life Course. Nutrients. 2018; 10(10). PMC: 6212925. DOI: 10.3390/nu10101531. View

10.

Woolf E, Syed N, Scheck A . Tumor Metabolism, the Ketogenic Diet and β-Hydroxybutyrate: Novel Approaches to Adjuvant Brain Tumor Therapy. Front Mol Neurosci. 2016; 9:122. PMC: 5110522. DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2016.00122. View

11.

Baruch E, Youngster I, Ben-Betzalel G, Ortenberg R, Lahat A, Katz L . Fecal microbiota transplant promotes response in immunotherapy-refractory melanoma patients. Science. 2020; 371(6529):602-609. DOI: 10.1126/science.abb5920. View

12.

Chen D, Wu J, Jin D, Wang B, Cao H . Fecal microbiota transplantation in cancer management: Current status and perspectives. Int J Cancer. 2018; 145(8):2021-2031. PMC: 6767494. DOI: 10.1002/ijc.32003. View

13.

Rubinstein M, Wang X, Liu W, Hao Y, Cai G, Han Y . Fusobacterium nucleatum promotes colorectal carcinogenesis by modulating E-cadherin/β-catenin signaling via its FadA adhesin. Cell Host Microbe. 2013; 14(2):195-206. PMC: 3770529. DOI: 10.1016/j.chom.2013.07.012. View

14.

Hendler R, Zhang Y . Probiotics in the Treatment of Colorectal Cancer. Medicines (Basel). 2018; 5(3). PMC: 6164107. DOI: 10.3390/medicines5030101. View

15.

Park E, Chelvanambi M, Bhutiani N, Kroemer G, Zitvogel L, Wargo J . Targeting the gut and tumor microbiota in cancer. Nat Med. 2022; 28(4):690-703. DOI: 10.1038/s41591-022-01779-2. View

16.

Magnusdottir S, Ravcheev D, de Crecy-Lagard V, Thiele I . Systematic genome assessment of B-vitamin biosynthesis suggests co-operation among gut microbes. Front Genet. 2015; 6:148. PMC: 4403557. DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2015.00148. View

17.

Lau H, Jao-Yiu Sung J, Yu J . Gut microbiota: impacts on gastrointestinal cancer immunotherapy. Gut Microbes. 2021; 13(1):1-21. PMC: 7808428. DOI: 10.1080/19490976.2020.1869504. View

18.

Moelling K . Nutrition and the microbiome. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2016; 1372(1):3-8. DOI: 10.1111/nyas.13039. View

19.

Davila A, Blachier F, Gotteland M, Andriamihaja M, Benetti P, Sanz Y . Intestinal luminal nitrogen metabolism: role of the gut microbiota and consequences for the host. Pharmacol Res. 2012; 68(1):95-107. DOI: 10.1016/j.phrs.2012.11.005. View

20.

Luu M, Riester Z, Baldrich A, Reichardt N, Yuille S, Busetti A . Microbial short-chain fatty acids modulate CD8 T cell responses and improve adoptive immunotherapy for cancer. Nat Commun. 2021; 12(1):4077. PMC: 8249424. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-24331-1. View