Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 30, 2025

Bioluminescent Bacterial Imaging In Vivo
Published on: November 4, 2012
The bacteria inside human cancer cells: Mainly as cancer promoters
Wei Zhu1,2, Jing-Zi Wang3, Zhixian Liu1
1Jiangsu Cancer Hospital, Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
Abstract:
The roles of the microbiome in human beings have become clearer with the development of next-generation sequencing techniques. Several pieces of evidence showed strong correlations between the microbiome and human health and disease, such as metabolic disorders, infectious diseases, digestive system diseases, and cancers. Among these diverse microbiomes, the role of bacteria in human cancers, especially in cancer cells, has received extensive attention. Latest studies found that bacteria widely existed in cancers, mainly in cancer cells and immune cells. In this review, we summarize the latest advances in understanding the role of bacteria in human cancer cells. We also discuss how bacteria are transported into cancer cells and their physiological significance in cancer progression. Finally, we present the prospect of bacterial therapy in cancer treatment.
Related Concept Videos
Cancer
Cancer Prevention
Some...
Adaptive Mechanisms in Cancer Cells
Some of the advantages that cancer cells have on normal cells include - enhanced ability to divide without terminally differentiating, induce new blood vessel formation,...
What is Cancer?
Although people have known about cancer for centuries, it was only in 1761 that Giovanni Morgagni of Padua performed a detailed autopsy of...
Cancers Originate from Somatic Mutations in a Single Cell
Cancer-Critical Genes I: Proto-oncogenes
When the function of certain critical genes, especially those involved in cell cycle regulation and cell growth signaling cascades, gets disrupted, it upsets the cell cycle progression. Such cells with unchecked cell cycles start proliferating uncontrollably and eventually develop into tumors.
Such genes that act...

