Gastric microbiota in gastric cancer and precancerous stages: Mechanisms of carcinogenesis and clinical value

Abstract

Gastric cancer (GC) is a globally important disease. The discovery of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) demonstrated that the human stomach is not a sterile environment, and recent advances in molecular biology have led to the detection of large populations of microorganisms in the stomach. A growing number of studies have elucidated differences in the microbiota of patients at various stages of GC development. Evidence from insulin‐gastrin transgenic (INS‐GAS) and human gastric microbiota‐transplanted mouse models have further demonstrated the potential causality of microbiota in the development of GC. To date, H. pylori is still thought to be the strongest risk factor for GC. H. pylori interacts with non‐H. pylori commensals and affects the composition of the gastric microbiota. This review provides an overview of the relationship between the gastric microbiota and GC, including the mechanisms of microbe‐associated carcinogenesis, the clinical value of the microbiota as a GC biomarker, and the potential of modulating the microbiota for GC prevention or therapy.

The role of microbiota in gastric cancer: A comprehensive review

“…It has been observed that probiotics can lower the risk of gastric cancer by inhibiting H. pylori. 86 As reported by He and colleagues, 105 3).…”

“…It has been observed that probiotics can lower the risk of gastric cancer by inhibiting H. pylori 86 . As reported by He and colleagues, 105 probiotics could attenuate gastric inflammation induced by H. pylori by modulating pro‐inflammatory pathways such as TNF, IL‐17, and NF‐κB signaling pathways.…”

Immunotherapy of gastric cancer: Present status and future perspectives

“…All of these data suggest that the gastric microbiota in addition to H. pylori plays a role in the latter stages of gastric carcinogenesis[ 22 ]. Furthermore, data derived from experiments in transgenic mouse models with insulin-gastrin transplantation and human gastric microbiome support the view linking the gastric microbiota to GC development[ 19 , 23 ]. Finally, it appears that the colonic microbiota favors GC development through various metabolites.…”

Global status and trends of gastric cancer and gastric microbiota research: a bibliometric analysis

“…Microbial taxonomic features (MTFs) can be used to predict early gastric neoplasia (EGN; Png et al, 2022 ) and may improve the accuracy of the polygenic risk score (PRS) model in predicting GC ( Wang et al, 2023 ). As for the mechanism, many studies have revealed that non- H. pylori microorganisms promote GC by inducing inflammation, modulating the immune response, triggering DNA damage, and promoting epithelial–mesenchymal transformation ( Yang et al, 2022 ; Liao et al, 2023 ). Gastric non- H. pylori microorganisms may participate in the progression of GC by affecting host DNA methylation ( Yue et al, 2023 ).…”

“…Gastric non- H. pylori microorganisms may participate in the progression of GC by affecting host DNA methylation ( Yue et al, 2023 ). Different bacterial taxa are related to certain types of infiltrating immune cells ( Liao et al, 2023 ). In the gastric microbiota associated with atrophy/intestinal metaplasia, functional pathways such as amino acid metabolism and inositol phosphate metabolism are enriched, while folate biosynthesis and NOD-like receptor signaling are reduced, which may explain the ongoing progression of precancerous conditions even after H. pylori eradication ( Sung et al, 2020 ).…”