Bacterial Quorum Sensing: A Double-Edged Sword in Cancer Development

Cancer is one of the most pervasive and severe global diseases that cause millions of death annually. Numerous bacterial strains are found to play fundamental roles in tumor formation, growth, and metastasis. On the other hand, specific bacterial strains are discovered to induce beneficial changes to restrict tumoral growth and progression or alter the tumor microenvironment. Studies have also suggested bacteria are potential microorganisms that transfer synthetic genes or anti-tumor drugs. A particularly interesting area of study is bacterial communication, known as quorum sensing (QS), in which signal peptides adjust bacterial pathogenic traits such as virulence factor, drug resistance, and biofilm after a threshold volume of signals is reached. QS signals raised a propitious future perspective against diseases and cancer. Future comprehension of the QS system can lead to novel bacterial-based therapeutic procedures with the minimum healthy cell toxicity and higher target specificity rather than long-established methods. This review aims to highlight significant research and advancements in the field of QS to combat cancer and find more non-toxic and less-invasive treatments.