REVIEW article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microorganisms in Vertebrate Digestive Systems
Interplay Between the Abdominopelvic Radiotherapy and Gut Microbiota
Provisionally accepted
- 1Bengbu Medical University, Bengbu, China
- 2Huzhou Central Hospital, Affiliated Central Hospital Huzhou University, Zhejiang Province, People's Republic of China., Huzhou, China
- 3Xuancheng People's Hospital, Xuancheng, China
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Radiotherapy is a crucial treatment modality for abdominopelvic malignancies, with particularly significant effects on the gut microbiota. A reciprocal relationship exists between abdominopelvic radiotherapy and the gut microbiota. The gut microbiota plays vital roles in maintaining host health, modulating immune responses, and regulating metabolic functions. Abdominopelvic radiotherapy induces significant alterations in both the diversity and abundance of the gut microbiota, which may be critically involved in the development of radiotherapy-related adverse effects and the compromised therapeutic efficacy. Concurrently, the distinct biological properties of the gut microbiota and its derivatives can also influence the host response to radiotherapy. Understanding this interplay between abdominopelvic radiotherapy and the gut microbiota is of paramount importance for improving patient quality of life and treatment outcomes. This review discusses the impact of abdominopelvic radiotherapy on gut microbiota composition and summarizes recent advances in microbiota-targeted interventions aimed at radioprotection and radiosensitization, providing a theoretical foundation for optimizing radiotherapy for abdominopelvic malignancies.
Keywords: Gut Microbiota, Radiotherapy, abdominopelvic malignant tumor, radiation-induced intestinal injury, radiosensitization
Received: 26 Aug 2025; Accepted: 25 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Ding, Zhuang, Yu, Xie and Yang. 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: Xi Yang
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