REVIEW article
Front. Microbiomes
Sec. Host and Microbe Associations
Volume 4 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frmbi.2025.1606551
This article is part of the Research TopicThe Microbiome in Cancer Therapy ResponseView all 6 articles
"The Microbiome and Lung Cancer: Microbial Effects on Host Immune Responses and Treatment Outcomes"
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Thoracic Oncology, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, United States
- 2Department of Clinical Research, University of Jamestown, Jamestown, North Dakota, United States
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The human microbiome plays a critical role in shaping physiological processes, immune system function, metabolism, and disease development. Recent research has highlighted the microbiome's profound cancer impact, particularly on lung cancer. This review explores how microbial communities in lung and gut influence tumor progression, immune responses, and treatment outcomes as well as describing the interactions between the microbiome and the host immune system in modulating the efficacy of cancer therapies. Emerging evidence from preclinical and clinical studies investigating the role of the lung and gut microbiome in lung cancer focus on alterations in the microbiota that influence the tumor microenvironment, modulate immune responses, and potentially enhance/hinder treatment effectiveness such as chemotherapy, targeted therapies, and immunotherapy. Microbial diversity plays a significant role in immune regulation, and specific microbial species may activate/suppress immune cells such as T-cells, dendritic cells, and macrophages. Furthermore, this review examines the therapeutic implications of microbiome modulation, including the use of probiotics, antibiotics, and fecal microbiota transplantation in enhancing cancer therapies. Alterations in the lung and gut microbiome and their interaction in the recently described gut-lung axis with its bidirectional communication significantly influence the tumor microenvironment and systemic immune responses. These findings suggest that microbial diversity can regulate immune functions, with specific species capable of activating or suppressing immune cell activity. Furthermore, microbiome-targeted interventions show potential in improving the effectiveness of treatments including chemotherapy, targeted therapies, and immunotherapy, underscoring the importance of the microbiome as a key factor in lung cancer pathogenesis and treatment.
Keywords: Microbiome and Immune Response Non-small cell lung cancer; Gut microbiome, immune response, Lung Microbiome, Inflammation, Probiotics, Immunotherapy, Gut-Lung Axis
Received: 05 Apr 2025; Accepted: 08 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Bailey, Leuther and Robinson. 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: Lary A Robinson, Department of Thoracic Oncology, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, United States
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.