Cancer and Trypanosoma cruzi: Tumor induction or protection?

Trypanosoma cruzi causes Chagas disease, a neglected disease that can be divided, overall, into acute and chronic phases. Understanding the mechanisms underlying its progression is based on the parasite-host interactions occurring during the infection. Although the pathophysiology of the main symptomatic forms of Chagas disease has been the subject of several studies, little is known about their relationship with the development of different types of cancer. Therefore, knowledge regarding the molecular aspects of infection in the host, as well as the influence of the immune response in the parasite and the host, can help to understand the association between Chagas disease and tumor development. This review aims to summarize the main molecular mechanisms related to T. cruzi-dependent carcinogenic development and the mechanisms associated with tumor protection mediated by different parasite components.