Bacterial infections and cancer
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Updated: Feb 3, 2026

Oral Bacterial Infection and Shedding in Drosophila melanogaster
Published on: May 31, 2018
Daphne van Elsland1, Jacques Neefjes2
1Oncode Institute and Department of Cell and Chemical Biology, Leiden University Medical Center LUMC, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
Infections are estimated to contribute to 20% of all human tumours. These are mainly caused by viruses, which explains why a direct bacterial contribution to cancer formation has been largely ignored. While epidemiological data link bacterial infections to particular cancers, tumour formation is generally assumed to be solely caused by the ensuing inflammation responses. Yet, many bacteria directly manipulate their host cell in various phases of their infection cycle. Such manipulations can affect host cell integrity and can contribute to cancer formation. We here describe how bacterial surface moieties, bacterial protein toxins and bacterial effector proteins can induce host cell DNA damage, and thereby can interfere with essential host cell signalling pathways involved in cell proliferation, apoptosis, differentiation and immune signalling.
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