Gut microbiome in colorectal cancer: a dual regulator of tumor biology and therapeutic response.

Abstract

Colorectal cancer is one of the most prevalent malignancies and a major cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. It remains a significant health concern, with an alarming rise in early-onset colorectal cancer cases in younger populations. Many factors are reported to have been responsible for its onset, progression, and metastasis, among which the gut microbiome is found to be a crucial one. Dysbiosis among these gut microbes impacts normal cellular functions and homeostasis, which may lead to cancer. Under unfavourable conditions biological processes such as cell differentiation, proliferation, migration, and apoptosis get disrupted and give rise to pathological traits such as invasion and metastasis. Emerging evidence indicates a rather significant role of the gut microbiome in this transition, influencing both onset and progression. Over the past few decades, our understanding of microbiome-cancer interaction has evolved considerably, yet effective microbiome-based therapies remain limited. This review highlights how these microbes modulate normal biological functions to pathological ones, and we further discuss current microbiome-based therapies along with their future prospects.