REVIEW article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Antimicrobials, Resistance and Chemotherapy
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1582382
This article is part of the Research TopicMultidrug Resistant Gram-negative Bacteria in Fragile HostsView all 9 articles
Microbial infection and treatment strategies in cancer patients
Provisionally accepted
- Southwest University, Chongqing, China
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The interplay between microbes and cancer has garnered significant attention in life sciences. Clinically, microbial infections in cancer patients are common complications and a major cause of mortality. Cancer patients often experience compromised immune defenses, and conventional therapies-including radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and invasive surgery-further diminish their resistance to pathogens.Emerging evidence indicates that intratumoral microbes and their interactions with the tumor microenvironment exacerbate cancer cell proliferation, drug resistance, metastasis, and poor prognosis. However, complex multidrug regimens increase patient burden and reduce compliance. This necessitates the development of single agents with dual anticancer and antimicrobial properties. Promisingly, naturally derived compounds and synthetic chemicals exhibit such dual functionalities. This review examines microbial contributions to oncogenesis and analyzes molecular targets of dual-function agents, proposing their potential as novel therapeutics to improve clinical outcomes.
Keywords: Infection, anticancer, Antibacteria, targets, Drug Development
Received: 24 Feb 2025; Accepted: 29 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhao, Zhu, Yuan and Fu. 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: Ailing Fu, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
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