Potential Impacts of Prebiotics and Probiotics on Cancer Prevention

Cancer is a serious problem throughout the world. The pathophysiology of cancer is multifactorial and is also related to gut microbiota. Intestinal microbes are the useful resident of the healthy human. They are significant for various aspects of human health, including nutritional biotransformation, flushing of the pathogens, toxin neutralization, immune response, and onco-suppression. Disruption in the interactions among the gut microbiota, intestinal epithelium, and the host immune system are associated with gastrointestinal disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, metabolic syndrome, and cancer. Probiotic bacteria (Lactobacillus spp., Bifidobacterium spp.) have been regarded as beneficial to health. Moreover, they also play a significant role in immunomodulation and a preventive measure against obesity, diabetes, liver disease, inflammatory bowel disease, tumor progression, and cancer.

The involvement of gut microorganisms in cancer development and prevention has been recognized as a balancing factor. The events of dysbiosis emphasize metabolic disorder and carcinogenesis. The gut flora potentiates immunomodulation and minimizes the limitations of usual chemotherapy. The significant role of prebiotics and probiotics on the improvement of immunomodulation and antitumor properties has been considered.

I had reviewed the literature on the multidimensional activities of prebiotics and probiotics from the NCBI website database PubMed, Springer Nature, Science Direct (Elsevier), Google Scholar database to search relevant articles. Specifically, I had focused on the role of prebiotics and probiotics in immunomodulation and cancer prevention.

Prebiotics are the nondigestible fermentable sugars that selectively influence the growth of probiotic organisms that exert immunomodulation over the cancerous growth. The oncostatic properties of bacteria are mediated through the recruitment of cytotoxic T cells, natural killer cells, and oxidative stress-induced apoptosis in the tumor microenvironment. Moreover, approaches have also been taken to use probiotics as an adjuvant in cancer therapy.

The present review has indicated that dysbiosis is a crucial factor in many pathological situations, including cancer. Applications of prebiotics and probiotics exhibit the immune-surveillance as oncostatic effects. These events increase the possibilities of new therapeutic strategies for cancer prevention.