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Gut microbiota homeostasis restoration may become a novel therapy for breast cancer

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Summary

Breast cancer is the most diagnosed cancer in women. It significantly impairs a patient’s physical and mental health. Gut microbiota comprise the bacteria residing in a host’s gastrointestinal tract. Through studies over the last decade, we now know that alterations in the composition of the gut microbiome are associated with protection against colonization by pathogens and other diseases, such as diabetes and cancer. This review focuses on how gut microbiota can affect breast cancer development through estrogen activity and discusses the types of bacteria that may be involved in the onset and the progression of breast cancer. We also describe potential therapies to curtail the risk of breast cancer by restoring gut microbiota homeostasis and reducing systemic estrogen levels. This review will further explore the relationship between intestinal microbes and breast cancer and propose a method to treat breast cancer by improving intestinal microbes. We aimed at discovering new methods to prevent or treat BC by changing intestinal microorganisms.

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We declare that data supporting article results reported in the article is in the published articles.

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Acknowledgements

We appreciated Luca Tamagnone at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (Rome, Italy) for his advice and support.

Funding

This study was funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China (81872412); This study was funded by the Innovation Fund Designated for Graduate Students of Yangtze University Health Science Center (2020007).

Author information

Author notes

  1. Zhi-Peng Feng, Hong-Yi Xin and Ze-Wei Zhang contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Infectious disease, Jingzhou Central Hospital, The Second Clinical Medical College, Yangtze University, No. 60 Jingzhong Road, Jingzhou District, Jingzhou, 434020, Hubei Province, China

    Zhi-Peng Feng, Zheng Yang & Hong-Wu Xin

  2. Laboratory of Oncology, Center for Molecular Medicine, School of Basic Medicine, Health Science Center, Yangtze University, 1 Nanhuan Road, Jingzhou, 434023, Hubei, China

    Zhi-Peng Feng, Chen-Guang Liu & Hong-Wu Xin

  3. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Basic Medicine, Health Science Center, Yangtze University, 1 Nanhuan Road, Jingzhou, 434023, Hubei, China

    Zhi-Peng Feng, Chen-Guang Liu & Hong-Wu Xin

  4. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Immunology Programe, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Center for Life Sciences, 28 Medical Drive, #03-09, Singapore, 117456, Singapore

    Hong-Yi Xin

  5. The Fourth Affiliated Hospital, China Medical University, Shenyang, 110000, Liaoning, China

    Ze-Wei Zhang

  6. Affiliated Cancer Hospital and Institute of Guangzhou Medical University, No.78 Heng-Zhi-Gang Road, Yue Xi District, Guangzhou, 510095, China

    Hua You

  7. Lianjiang People’s Hospital, Lianjiang, 524400, Guangdong, China

    Hong-Wu Xin

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Contributions

Authors contributed to this paper with the design (ZPF, ZY and HWX), literature search (ZPF and CGL), drafting (ZPF), revision (ZPF, HYX, ZWZ, CGL, ZY, HY and HWX), editing (ZPF, HYX, ZWZ, CGL, ZY, HY and HWX) and final approval (ZY, HY and HWX).

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Zheng Yang, Hua You or Hong-Wu Xin.

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Conflict of interest

Author Zhi-Peng Feng declares that he has no conflict of interest. Author Hong-Yi Xin declares that he has no conflict of interest. Author Ze-Wei Zhang declares that he has no conflict of interest. Author Chen-Guang Liu declares that he has no conflict of interest. Author Zheng Yang declares that he has no conflict of interest. Author Zheng-Yang declares that he has no conflict of interest. Author Hua You declares that he has no conflict of interest. Author Hong-Wu Xin declares that he has no conflict of interest.

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Feng, ZP., Xin, HY., Zhang, ZW. et al. Gut microbiota homeostasis restoration may become a novel therapy for breast cancer. Invest New Drugs 39, 871–878 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10637-021-01063-z

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