Phage therapy in cancer prevention and treatment
Beyond antibacterial functions, bacteriophages (or phages) can modulate tumor-associated microbiota, alter immune responses, and influence cancer progression.
Advances in synthetic biology enable programmable phages to target tumor cells, deliver therapeutic cargos, and enhance antitumor immunity with high specificity and minimal toxicity.
Phage-mediated modulation of the microbiome offers a novel strategy to disrupt cancer-promoting bacterial networks and improve responses to immunotherapy or chemotherapy.
Despite promising preclinical evidence, challenges including immune clearance, host specificity, pharmacokinetics, and regulatory frameworks must be addressed before clinical implementation.
Combining phage-based interventions with conventional and immune-based therapies could open a new frontier in precision cancer prevention and treatment.
https://www.cell.com/trends/molecular-medicine/fulltext/S1471-4914(26)00031-6
