Oral microbiota: Roles and treatment in radiation injury (Review)

While radiotherapy for malignant tumors increases the rate of local control for patients, it also inevitably causes damage to the surrounding normal tissues, resulting in different types and degrees of radiation injury (RI). RI has a significant negative impact on quality of life. However, there is no viable method for preventing and treating these complications. The oral microbiota plays a key role in the development of numerous categories of RI, such as radiation-induced brain injury, radiation-induced oral injury and radiation-induced lung injury. The aim of the present review is to clarify the potential mechanisms of RI and provide a comprehensive overview of the association between 10 distinct categories of RI and oral microbiota, thereby shedding light on novel clinical approaches for the prevention and treatment of RI based on modulating oral microbiota. This may open new avenues for targeted interventions.