TY - JOUR
T1 - The microbiota and radiotherapy for head and neck cancer
T2 - What should clinical oncologists know?
AU - Reis Ferreira, Miguel
AU - Pasto, Anna
AU - Ng, Tony
AU - Patel, Vinod
AU - Guerrero Urbano, Teresa
AU - Sears, Cynthia
AU - Wade, William
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Radiation Research Unit at the Cancer Research UK City of London Centre Award [C7893/A28990] and by the Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR, or the Department of Health and Social Care.
Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Radiation Research Unit at the Cancer Research UK City of London Centre Award [C7893/A28990] and by the Guy's and St Thomas’ Charity. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR, or the Department of Health and Social Care.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors
PY - 2022/9
Y1 - 2022/9
N2 - Radiotherapy is a linchpin in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HN-SCC) treatment. Modulating tumour and/or normal tissue biology offers opportunities to further develop HN-SCC radiotherapy. The microbiota, which can exhibit homeostatic properties and be a modulator of immunity, has recently received considerable interest from the Oncology community. Microbiota research in head and neck oncology has also flourished. However, available data are difficult to interpret for clinical and radiation oncologists. In this review, we focus on how microbiota research can contribute to the improvement of radiotherapy for HN-SCC, focusing on how current and future research can be translated back to the clinic. We include in-depth discussions about the microbiota, its multiple habitats and relevance to human physiology, mechanistic interactions with HN-SCC, available evidence on microbiota and HNC oncogenesis, efficacy and toxicity of treatment. We discuss clinically-relevant areas such as the role of the microbiota as a predictive and prognostic biomarker, as well as the potential of leveraging the microbiota and its interactions with immunity to improve treatment results. Importantly, we draw parallels with other cancers where research is more mature. We map out future directions of research and explain clinical implications in detail.
AB - Radiotherapy is a linchpin in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HN-SCC) treatment. Modulating tumour and/or normal tissue biology offers opportunities to further develop HN-SCC radiotherapy. The microbiota, which can exhibit homeostatic properties and be a modulator of immunity, has recently received considerable interest from the Oncology community. Microbiota research in head and neck oncology has also flourished. However, available data are difficult to interpret for clinical and radiation oncologists. In this review, we focus on how microbiota research can contribute to the improvement of radiotherapy for HN-SCC, focusing on how current and future research can be translated back to the clinic. We include in-depth discussions about the microbiota, its multiple habitats and relevance to human physiology, mechanistic interactions with HN-SCC, available evidence on microbiota and HNC oncogenesis, efficacy and toxicity of treatment. We discuss clinically-relevant areas such as the role of the microbiota as a predictive and prognostic biomarker, as well as the potential of leveraging the microbiota and its interactions with immunity to improve treatment results. Importantly, we draw parallels with other cancers where research is more mature. We map out future directions of research and explain clinical implications in detail.
KW - Chemotherapy
KW - Head and neck cancer
KW - Microbiome
KW - Microbiota
KW - Radiotherapy
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85135356788&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ctrv.2022.102442
DO - 10.1016/j.ctrv.2022.102442
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85135356788
SN - 0305-7372
VL - 109
JO - Cancer Treatment Reviews
JF - Cancer Treatment Reviews
M1 - 102442
ER -
