A Perspective on Lung Cancer and Lung Microbiome: Insight on Immunity

Although the carcinogenic potential of microbes has long been recognized, their significance may have been underestimated. Currently, the connection between microbiota and cancer is under extensive research. The lung microbiota may serve as a proxy for the state of lung health based on its crucial role in preserving lung hemostasis.

This review tried to outline the state of our understanding of the contribution of lung microbiome and lung cancer.

A literature search was performed using PubMed, Google Scholar, and Scopus databases for recent research focusing on the development and possible pathogenesis of lung microbiome and lung cancer.

Early research on lung cancer indicated that dysbiosis significantly impacted the development and spread of the tumor. As a result of these findings, the study of the lung microbiota as a possible therapeutic target and diagnostic marker has accelerated. Early-stage disease diagnostic biomarkers could be represented as microbiota profiles. Additionally, the microbiome is involved in anticancer therapy. There are limited studies on lung microbiota, and most microbiome studies commonly concentrate on the gut microbiota. A proper understanding of lung microbiota can have several potential therapeutic approaches. Therefore, more studies in this field may initiate remarkable advancements in microbiome-dependent treatment.

Convincing data from studies on both humans and animals indicates that the microbiota might play a role in cancer initiation, influenced by internal and environmental factors of the host. Notably, the lung harbors its microbiome, as do lung cancers. In general view, it seems microbiome diversity in lung cancer patients is reduced. Meanwhile, some genera were increased in lung cancer patients in comparison with a noncancerous population (such as Streptococcus genus), and some of them were decreased (Granulicatella adiacens, G. adiacens). Furthermore, research on the microbiome-carcinogenesis relationship is still in its infancy, and much remains to be fully understood.