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Peng et al. Microbiome Res Rep 2024;3:5 Microbiome Research
DOI: 10.20517/mrr.2023.47
Reports

Review Open Access

The role of microbiota in tumorigenesis, progression
and treatment of bladder cancer

#
Zijing Peng # , Jingming Zhuang , Bing Shen
Department of Urology, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200080, China.
#
Authors contributed equally.
Correspondence to: Prof. Bing Shen, Department of Urology, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of
Medicine, NO. 85 Wu Jin Road, Hongkou District, Shanghai 200080, China. E-mail: urodrshenbing@shsmu.edu.cn
How to cite this article: Peng Z, Zhuang J, Shen B. The role of microbiota in tumorigenesis, progression and treatment of bladder
cancer. Microbiome Res Rep 2024;3:5. https://dx.doi.org/10.20517/mrr.2023.47
Received: 28 Jul 2023 First Decision: 19 Sep 2023 Revised: 9 Oct 2023 Accepted: 13 Nov 2023 Published: 20 Nov 2023

Academic Editor: Hongyan Diao Copy Editor: Dong-Li Li Production Editor: Dong-Li Li

Abstract
For decades, the urinary system was regarded as a sterile environment due to the absence of any bacterial growth
in clinical standard urine cultures from healthy individuals. However, a diverse array of microbes colonizes the
urinary system in small quantities, exhibiting a variable compositional signature influenced by differences in sex,
age, and pathological state. Increasing pieces of evidence suggest microbiota exists in tumor tissue and plays a
crucial role in tumor microenvironment based on research in multiple cancer models. Current studies about
microbiota and bladder cancer have preliminarily characterized the bladder cancer-related microbiota, but how the
microbiota influences the biological behavior of bladder cancer remains unclarified. This review summarizes the
characteristics of microbiota in bladder cancer, aims to propose possible mechanisms that microbiota acts in
tumorigenesis and progression of bladder cancer based on advances in gut microbiota, and discusses the potential
clinical application of microbiota in bladder cancer.

Keywords: Microbiota, bladder cancer, mechanism, tumor microenvironment, microbial metabolites

INTRODUCTION
Bladder cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in the urinary system, with an estimated
570,000 new cases and 210,000 deaths globally in 2020 . Risk factors confirmed by different studies include
[1]
tobacco exposure, chemicals, infections, chronic inflammation, iatrogenic causes, etc. .
[2,3]

© The Author(s) 2023. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
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