REVIEW article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microbiotechnology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1545334
Resynthesis of synthetic biology techniques: Combining engineered bacteria with other antitumour therapies
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Oncology, Qianfoshan Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, China
- 2Yuncheng Chengxin Hospital, Heze, Shandong, China, Heze, China
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Worldwide cancer mortality rates underscore the pressing need to identify and develop novel anticancer therapies to supplement traditional cancer treatments.Naturally occurring bacteria are ideal for cancer therapy owing to their autonomous propulsion and hypoxia-targeting properties, but their poor tumour targeting ability and weak tumour penetration limit their use. Bacteria can be modified by bioengineering and nanotechnology methods to improve their physiological activity and therapeutic effect. Furthermore, engineering allows for refined spatiotemporal control, precise functional recombination, and direct genetic reprogramming. These engineered bacteria can produce synergistic anticancer effects upon coadministration with anticancer drug-containing nanomaterials or other therapeutic payloads. In this paper, the use of engineered bacteria combined with other antitumour therapies, such as radiotherapy (RT), chemotherapy, immunotherapy, light therapy and life technology, is reviewed to aid in improving antitumour therapy efficacy. In addition, we provide an overview of the current state of spatiotemporally regulated bacterial gene expression and drug release, discuss the drawbacks and difficulties of employing engineered bacteria for tumour therapy, and explore potential research avenues on the basis of current advancements.
Keywords: Engineered bacteria, Synthetic Biology, Antitumour therapy, Therapeutic effect, spatiotemporal manipulation
Received: 24 Dec 2024; Accepted: 03 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chang, Liu, Wang, Ma, Liang and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yan Li, Department of Oncology, Qianfoshan Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, China
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