REVIEW article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Systems Microbiology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1606684
The Gut Microbiome in Lung Cancer: From Pathogenesis to Precision Therapy
Provisionally accepted
- Ningbo First Hospital, Ningbo, China
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The gut microbiome has emerged as a key modulator of immune responses and treatment efficacy in oncology. Growing evidence links gut dysbiosis to resistance against immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in advanced cancers, prompting exploration of the gut-lung axisa bidirectional network connecting intestinal microbiota with pulmonary health. Given lung cancer's status as the leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide, understanding this axis holds significant therapeutic potential. This review synthesizes current knowledge on gut microbiota's role in lung cancer development, diagnosis, and treatment. We highlight microbial signatures predictive of disease and therapy response, discuss microbiota-targeted interventions (e.g., probiotics, Fecal Microbiota Transplantation), and elucidate mechanistic insights into microbial-immune crosstalk. Finally, we outline future directions for leveraging the gut microbiome in personalized lung cancer management.
Keywords: gut microbiome, Gut-Lung Axis, lung cancer, Immunotherapy, Microbial biomarkers
Received: 07 Apr 2025; Accepted: 11 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Shi, Wang, Hu and Liang. 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:
Wen-Tao Hu, Ningbo First Hospital, Ningbo, China
Zhigang Liang, Ningbo First Hospital, Ningbo, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.