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Updated: Jun 6, 2026

Bioluminescent Bacterial Imaging In Vivo
Published on: November 4, 2012
Bacterial engineering for cancer therapy
Noah Chen1, Zaofeng Yang1, Nicholas Arpaia2,3
1Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
None:
One of the most critical challenges in cancer therapy is the effective and specific targeting of tumors. The specific accumulation of bacteria within tumor tissue has been exploited for the delivery of therapeutic payloads, including cytotoxic agents and cancer immunotherapeutics, to the tumor site; however, such bacteria-based cancer therapies face challenges related to insufficient colonization and limited efficacy in the clinic. In this Perspective, we discuss mechanisms of bacterial tumor colonization and methods to enhance them, the antitumor mechanisms of bacteria, and considerations for payload selection and delivery.
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