Moreira Clara, Figueiredo Ceu, Ferreira Rui Manuel
Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto (i3S), 4200-135 Porto, Portugal.
Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal.
Cancers (Basel). 2023 Apr 30;15(9):2576. doi: 10.3390/cancers15092576.
Esophageal cancer is a major health problem, being the seventh most incidence cancer worldwide. Due to the often-late diagnosis and lack of efficient treatments, the overall 5-year survival is as low as 10%. Therefore, understanding the etiology and the mechanisms that drive the development of this type of cancer could improve the management of patients, increasing the chance of achieving a better clinical outcome. Recently, the microbiome has been studied as a putative etiological factor for esophageal cancer. Nevertheless, the number of studies tackling this issue is low, and the heterogeneity in the study design and data analysis has hindered consistent findings. In this work, we reviewed the current literature on the evaluation of the role of microbiota in the development of esophageal cancer. We analyzed the composition of the normal microbiota and the alterations found in precursor lesions, namely Barrett's esophagus and dysplasia, as well as in esophageal cancer. Additionally, we explored how other environmental factors can modify microbiota and contribute to the development of this neoplasia. Finally, we identify critical aspects to be improved in future studies, with the aim of refining the interpretation of the relationship between the microbiome and esophageal cancer.
食管癌是一个重大的健康问题，是全球发病率第七高的癌症。由于常常诊断较晚且缺乏有效的治疗方法，总体5年生存率低至10%。因此，了解这种癌症的病因及驱动其发展的机制，可改善患者的治疗管理，增加获得更好临床结果的机会。最近，微生物群已被作为食管癌的一个假定病因进行研究。然而，针对这一问题的研究数量较少，且研究设计和数据分析的异质性阻碍了一致结果的得出。在这项工作中，我们回顾了当前关于评估微生物群在食管癌发展中作用的文献。我们分析了正常微生物群的组成以及在前体病变（即巴雷特食管和发育异常）以及食管癌中发现的改变。此外，我们探讨了其他环境因素如何改变微生物群并促进这种肿瘤的发展。最后，我们确定了未来研究中需要改进的关键方面，旨在完善对微生物群与食管癌之间关系的解释。
