Islam Md Sharifull, Fan Jie, Pan Fan
Center for Cancer Immunology, Institute of Biomedicine and Biotechnology, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China.
Department of Cardiology, Handan Central Hospital, Handan, Hebei, China.
Front Oncol. 2023 Nov 15;13:1290296. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1290296. eCollection 2023.
Cancer is a devastating disease with a high global mortality rate and is projected to increase further in the coming years. Current treatment options, such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy, have limitations including side effects, variable effectiveness, high costs, and limited availability. There is a growing need for alternative treatments that can target cancer cells specifically with fewer side effects. Phages, that infect bacteria but not eukaryotic cells, have emerged as promising cancer therapeutics due to their unique properties, including specificity and ease of genetic modification. Engineered phages can transform cancer treatment by targeting cancer cells while sparing healthy ones. Phages exhibit versatility as nanocarriers, capable of delivering therapeutic agents like gene therapy, immunotherapy, and vaccines. Phages are extensively used in vaccine development, with filamentous, tailed, and icosahedral phages explored for different antigen expression possibilities. Engineered filamentous phages bring benefits such as built in adjuvant properties, cost-effectiveness, versatility in multivalent formulations, feasibility of oral administration, and stability. Phage-based vaccines stimulate the innate immune system by engaging pattern recognition receptors on antigen-presenting cells, enhancing phage peptide antigen presentation to B-cells and T-cells. This review presents recent phage therapy advances and challenges in cancer therapy, exploring its versatile tools and vaccine potential.
癌症是一种具有全球高死亡率的毁灭性疾病，预计在未来几年还会进一步增加。当前的治疗选择，如化疗和放疗，存在局限性，包括副作用、疗效不一、成本高以及可及性有限。越来越需要能够特异性靶向癌细胞且副作用较少的替代治疗方法。噬菌体感染细菌但不感染真核细胞，由于其独特的特性，包括特异性和易于基因改造，已成为有前景的癌症治疗手段。工程噬菌体可以通过靶向癌细胞而不损伤健康细胞来变革癌症治疗。噬菌体作为纳米载体具有多功能性，能够递送基因治疗、免疫治疗和疫苗等治疗剂。噬菌体广泛用于疫苗开发，丝状噬菌体、有尾噬菌体和二十面体噬菌体被探索用于不同的抗原表达可能性。工程丝状噬菌体具有诸多优势，如具有内在佐剂特性、成本效益高、多价制剂的多功能性、口服给药的可行性以及稳定性。基于噬菌体的疫苗通过与抗原呈递细胞上的模式识别受体结合来刺激先天免疫系统，增强噬菌体肽抗原向B细胞和T细胞的呈递。本综述介绍了癌症治疗中噬菌体疗法的最新进展和挑战，探讨了其多功能工具和疫苗潜力。
