Relationship between Intestinal Microflora and Hepatocellular Cancer Based on Gut-Liver Axis Theory

The Role of Gut Microbiome in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Systematic Review

Gut microbiome dysbiosis is common in patients with chronic liver diseases such as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and plays an essential role in developing, diagnosing, and treating HCC. The purpose of this systematic review, which was carried out following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analyses 2020 guidelines, is to determine the role of the gut microbiome in the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of HCC. We collected and reviewed articles, including clinical trials, literature reviews, case-control studies, cross-sectional studies, cohort studies, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses, published between May 30, 2013, and May 30, 2023. The databases used to collect these articles included PubMed, Cochrane Library, Google Scholar, and ScienceDirect. After applying appropriate filters, a total of 2,969 studies were identified. They were further screened and subjected to quality assessment tools which finally yielded 17 studies included in this systematic review. This systematic review provides information regarding the gut-liver axis and the relationship between gut microbiome dysbiosis and HCC.

Intestinal flora plays a role in the progression of hepatitis-cirrhosis-liver cancer

The liver is a vital metabolism and detoxification organ of human body, which is involved in the biotransformation and metabolism of the organism. Hepatitis - cirrhosis - liver cancer are significant and common part of liver diseases. The pathogenesis of liver diseases is generally as followed: inflammation and other pathogenic factors cause persistent damage to the liver, leading to the activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) and excessive deposition of extracellular matrix. Patients with chronic hepatitis have a high risk of developing into liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and even life-threatening liver cancer, which poses a great threat to public health.As the first organ to come into contact with blood from the gut, the liver is profoundly affected by the intestinal flora and its metabolites, with leaky gut and flora imbalance being the triggers of the liver's pathological response. So far, no one has reviewed the role of intestinal flora in this process from the perspective of the progression of hepatitis-cirrhosis-liver cancer and this article reviews the evidence supporting the effect of intestinal flora in the progression of liver disease.

Chemopreventive role of probiotics against cancer: a comprehensive mechanistic review

Probiotics use different mechanisms such as intestinal barrier improvement, bacterial translocation and maintaining gut microbiota homeostasis to treat cancer. Probiotics' ability to induce apoptosis against tumor cells makes them more effective to treat cancer. Moreover, probiotics stimulate immune function through an immunomodulation mechanism that induces an anti-tumor effect. There are different strains of probiotics, but the most important ones are lactic acid bacteria (LAB) having antagonistic and anti-mutagenic activities. Live and dead probiotics have anti-inflammatory, anti-proliferative, anti-oxidant and anti-metastatic properties which are useful to fight against different diseases, especially cancer. The main focus of this article is to review the anti-cancerous properties of probiotics and their role in the reduction of different types of cancer. However, further investigations are in progress to improve the efficiency of probiotics in cancer treatment.