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Peng et al. Microbiome Res Rep 2024;3:5 https://dx.doi.org/10.20517/mrr.2023.47 Page 13 of 17

tumor microenvironment, including tumor cells and immune cells [45,66,109,110] , thus leading to boosting or
control of tumor development. Are both the bladder and gut microbiota involved in local immune
regulation in bladder cancer? Does bladder cancer-associated microbiota have therapeutic significance?
Further research is needed to address these questions.

In summary, this review focuses on the current research on the microbiota in the urinary tract and describes
the possible microbiota associated with the initiation, progression, and treatment of bladder cancer. Based
on the advances in the relationship between gut microbiota and tumors including bladder cancer and other
cancers, this review emphasizes the network formed by microbiota, microbial metabolites, immune
(inflammatory) response, and tumor in bladder cancer tissue and discusses the possible mechanisms of how
microbiota influences the biological behavior of bladder cancer. Finally, this review points out the potential
clinical applications of bladder-resident microbiota and gut microbiota in treatment, including as an
antitumor agent and affecting the efficacy of the immunotherapy.

DECLARATIONS
Acknowledgments
We thank the department of urology of Shanghai General Hospital for the support.

Authors’ contributions
Performed the analysis and prepared the manuscript: Peng Z, Zhang J
Conceived the article contents and endorsed the final draft submitted: Shen B
All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.

Availability of data and materials
Not applicable.

Financial support and sponsorship
None.

Conflicts of interest
All authors declared that there are no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval and consent to participate
Not applicable.

Consent for publication
Not applicable.

Copyright
© The Authors 2023.

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