Inflammation Infection And Microbiome In Cancers

This book offers a summary and discussion of the advances of inflammation and infection in various cancers. The authors cover the classically known virus infections in cancer, novel roles of other pathogens (e.g. bacteria and fungi), as well as biomarkers for diagnosis and therapy. Further, the chapters highlight the progress of immune therapy, stem cells and the role of the microbiome in the pathophysiology of cancers. Readers will gain insights into complex microbial communities, that inhabit most external human surfaces and play a key role in health and disease. Perturbations of host-microbe interactions often lead to altered host responses that can promote cancer development. Thus, this book highlights emerging roles of the microbiome in pathogenesis of cancers and outcome of therapy. The focus is on mechanistic concepts that underlie the complex relationships between host and microbes. Approaches that can inhibit infection, suppress chronic inflammation and reverse the dysbiosis are discussed, as a means for restoring the balance between host and microbes. This comprehensive work will be beneficial to researchers and students interested in infectious diseases, microbiome, and cancer as well as clinicians and general physiologists.

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A link between inflammation and cancer was initially made by Rudolf Virchow back in the 19th century. Nowadays many cancers are considered dependent on inflammatory responses to microbial and damaged-self stimuli and both arms of immunity, innate and adaptive, are playing a role in promoting cancer. Moreover, besides environmental factors, opportunistic pathogens contribute to inflammation and cancer. Nevertheless, microbial influence on chronic disease is sometimes difficult to discern, especially in the context of polymicrobial communities, such as those found in the digestive tract. In this light, model organisms provide important insights into immune and growth signals that promote cancer, and suggest therapies that will selectively target potentially harmful microbes or modulate host responses. A number of review and opinion articles in this series address novel aspects and paradigms of the interactions between the microbiota and the host in relation to inflammation and cancer.

This book ventures into a new and exciting area of discovery that directly ties our current knowledge of cancer to the discovery of microorganisms associated with different types of cancers. Recent studies demonstrate that microorganisms are directly linked to the establishment of cancers and that they can also contribute to the initiation, as well as persistence of, the cancers. Microbiome and Cancer covers the current knowledge of microbiome and its association with human cancers. It provides important reading for novices, senior undergraduates in cancer and microbiology, graduate students, junior investigators, residents, fellows and established investigators in the fields of cancer and microbiology. We cover areas related to known, broad concepts in microbiology and how they can relate to the ongoing discoveries of the micro-environment and the changes in the metabolic and physiologic states in that micro-environment, which are important for the ongoing nurturing and survival of the poly-microbial content that dictates activities in that micro-environment. We cover the interactions of microorganisms associated with gastric carcinomas, which are important for driving this particular cancer. Additional areas include oral cancers, skin cancers, ovarian cancers, breast cancers, nasopharyngeal cancers, lung cancers, mesotheliomas, Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas, glioblastoma multiforme, hepatocellular carcinomas, as well as the inflammatory response related to the infectious agents in cancers. This book covers the metabolic changes that occur because of infection and their support for development of cancers, chronic infection and development of therapeutic strategies for detection and control of the infection. The field of microbiome research has exploded over the last five years, and we are now understanding more and more about the context in which microorganisms can contribute to the onset of cancers in humans. The field of microbiome research has demonstrated that the human body has specific biomes for tissues and that changes in these biomes at the specific organ sites can result in disease. These changes can result in dramatic differences in metabolic shifts that, together with genetic mutations, will produce the perfect niche for establishment of the particular infection programmes in that organ site. We are just beginning to understand what those changes are and how they influence the disease state. Overall, we hope to bring together the varying degrees of fluctuations in the microbiome at the major organ sites and how these changes affect the normal cellular processes because of dysregulation, leading to proliferation of the associated tissues.

This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Inflammation and Cancer" that was published in IJMS

The last two decades have shown that the local microenvironment plays a pivotal role in cancer progression. Cancer is not the result of mutation events in single cells, but of a complex interplay of tumor cells, inflammatory cells, stem cells, growth factors, cytokines, chemokines and DNA-damaging agents. This book provides an up-to-date overview of how infections and chronic inflammatory conditions can give rise to the onset of a malignant phenotype, a theory that was originally postulated by Rudolf Virchow as early as 1863. Internationally recognized experts discuss novel aspects such as the role of stem cells and the occurrence of aneuploidy in carcinogenesis. Several examples of pathogens and their correlation with specific cancer types are described, e.g. Helicobacter pylori and gastric neoplasia, and schistosomiasis and bladder cancer. The mechanisms of carcinogenesis are examined in detail as are the types of cells that can transform to a malignant phenotype, with special emphasis on stem cells which have recently been shown to give rise to cancer. Further chapters discuss the role of chemokines in directing metastasis and describe options for visualizing metastasis formation in 3-dimensional model systems and in the living body. Our increasing knowledge of the inflammatory microenvironment's role in the carcinogenic process will be the basis for investigating new anti-inflammatory strategies to counter tumor formation and growth. Therefore, this book is essential reading for scientists and clinicians working in cancer research and prevention.

[Increasing evidence suggests that microbiota and especially the gut microbiota (the microbes inhabiting the gut including bacteria, archaea, viruses, and fungi) plays a key role in human physiology and pathology. Recent findings indicate how dysbiosis—an imbalance in the composition and organization of microbial populations—could severely impact the development of different medical conditions (from metabolic to mood disorders), providing new insights into the comprehension of diverse diseases, such as IBD, obesity, asthma, autism, stroke, diabetes, and cancer. Given that microbial cells in the gut outnumber host cells, microbiota influences human physiology both functionally and structurally. Microbial metabolites bridge various—even distant—areas of the organism by way of the immune and hormone system. For instance, it is now clear that the mutual interaction between the gastrointestinal tract and the brain (gut–brain axis), often involves gut microbiota, indicating that the crosstalk between the organism and its microbial residents represents a fundamental aspect of both the establishment and maintenance of healthy conditions. Moreover, it is crucial to recognize that beyond the intestinal tract, microbiota populates other host organs and tissues (e.g., skin and oral mucosa). We have edited this eBook with the aim of publishing manuscripts focusing on the impact of microbiota in the development of different diseases and their associated treatments.]