Live microorganisms can be manipulated and engineered for colorectal cancer detection and treatment through methods such as faecal microbiota transplantation, native bacteria engineering and synthetic circuit engineering. Although promising, substantial effort is required to translate these approaches for clinical use.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$29.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$209.00 per year
only $17.42 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Kaźmierczak-Siedlecka, K. et al. Therapeutic methods of gut microbiota modification in colorectal cancer management – fecal microbiota transplantation, prebiotics, probiotics, and synbiotics. Gut Microbes 11, 1518–1530 (2020).
Wang, Y. et al. Fecal microbiota transplantation for refractory immune checkpoint inhibitor-associated colitis. Nat. Med. 24, 1804–1808 (2018).
Routy, B. et al. Gut microbiome influences efficacy of PD-1-based immunotherapy against epithelial tumors. Science 359, 91–97 (2018).
Russell, B. J. et al. Intestinal transgene delivery with native E. coli chassis allows persistent physiological changes. Cell 185, 3263–3277.e15 (2022).
Fu, T. et al. FXR regulates intestinal cancer stem cell proliferation. Cell 176, 1098–1112.e18 (2019).
Din, M. O. et al. Synchronized cycles of bacterial lysis for in vivo delivery. Nature 536, 81–85 (2016).
Chowdhury, S. et al. Programmable bacteria induce durable tumor regression and systemic antitumor immunity. Nat. Med. 25, 1057–1063 (2019).
Lezia, A., Miano, A. & Hasty, J. Synthetic gene circuits: design, implement, and apply. Proc. IEEE 110, 613–630 (2022).
Gurbatri, C. R. et al. Engineering tumor-colonizing E. coli Nissle 1917 for detection and treatment of colorectal neoplasia. Nat. Commun. 15, 646 (2024).
Cooper, R. M. et al. Engineered bacteria detect tumor DNA. Science 381, 682–686 (2023).
Acknowledgements
J.Z. is supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant No. DGE-2038238. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. A.Z. and J.H. are supported by NIH R01 AI163483 and R01 EB030134. A.Z. is further supported by NIH U01 CA265719 and receives institutional support from NIH P30 DK120515, P30 DK063491, P30 CA014195 and UL1 TR001442.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
J.H. is a co-founder of GenCirq, which focuses on cancer therapeutics; he is on the Board of Directors and has equity in GenCirq. His spouse is employed part-time for bookkeeping and to support employees with Human Resources. A.Z. has a patent for PCT/US18/27998 pending and licensed to Endure Biotherapeutics and holds equity and is the acting Chief Medical Officer of Endure Biotherapeutics. J.Z. declares no competing interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zhang, J., Hasty, J. & Zarrinpar, A. Live bacterial therapeutics for detection and treatment of colorectal cancer. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 21, 295–296 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-024-00901-8
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-024-00901-8