Symbiotic microbial communities in various locations of the lung cancer respiratory tract along with potential host immunological processes affected - Comprehensive review

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Patrick

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related deaths, with low five-year survival rates for both non-small cell lung cancer (around 26%) and small cell lung cancer (around 7%). This review links respiratory symbiotic microbiota to disease occurrence, progression, prognosis, and host immune modulation. It synthesizes microbial characteristics across anatomical sites—saliva, sputum, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, bronchial brush samples, and tissue—highlighting biodiversity differences, pathological features, staging and metastasis, host genetic mutations, immune therapies, and environmentally influenced dysbiosis mechanisms that can promote or inhibit tumor progression.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages19

Reading Time48 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Respiratory tract microbiota and sterility assumptions

Sampling and culture limitations

Molecular biology and DNA sequencing insights

TYPE Review PUBLISHED 02 February 2024 DOI 10.3389/fcimb.2024.1296295 OPEN ACCESS EDITED BY Tao Lin, Baylor College of Medicine, United States REVIEWED BY Kaiser Jamil, Bhagwan Mahavir Medical Research Centre, India Soraya Mezouar, Aix-Marseille University, France *CORRESPONDENCE Huaqi Wang [whq2004@126.com](whq2004@126.com) †These authors have contributed equally to this work and share ﬁrst authorship RECEIVED 18 September 2023 ACCEPTED 18 January 2024 PUBLISHED 02 February 2024 CITATION Cheng J, Zhou L and Wang H (2024) Symbiotic microbial communities in various locations of the lung cancer respiratory tract along with potential host immunological processes affected. Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol. 14:1296295 . doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2024.1296295 COPYRIGHT © 2024 Cheng, Zhou and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. Symbiotic microbial communities in various locations of the lung cancer respiratory tract along with potential host immunological processes affected Jiuling Cheng 1†, Lujia Zhou 2,3† and Huaqi Wang 1* 1 Respiratory Department, The First Afﬁliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China, 2 Henan Key Laboratory of Precision Diagnosis of Respiratory Infectious Diseases, The Second Afﬁliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China, 3Zhengzhou Key Laboratory of Precision Diagnosis of Respiratory Infectious Diseases, The Second Afﬁliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China Lung cancer has the highest mortality rate among all cancers worldwide. The 5-year overall survival rate for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is estimated at around 26%, whereas for small cell lung cancer (SCLC), the survival rate is only approximately 7%. This disease places a signiﬁcant ﬁnancial and psychological burden on individuals worldwide. The symbiotic microbiota in the human body has been signiﬁcantly associated with the occurrence, progression, and prognosis of various diseases, such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and cystic ﬁbrosis. Studies have demonstrated that respiratory symbiotic microorganisms and their metabolites play a crucial role in modulating immune function and contributing to the pathophysiology of lung cancer through their interactions with the host. In this review, we provide a comprehensive overview of the microbial characteristics associated with lung cancer, with a focus on the respiratory tract microbiota from different locations, including saliva, sputum, bronchoalveolar lavage ﬂuid (BALF), bronchial brush samples, and tissue. We describe the respiratory tract microbiota’s biodiversity characteristics by anatomical region, elucidating distinct pathological features, staging, metastasis, host chromosomal mutations, immune therapies, and the differentiated symbiotic microbiota under the inﬂuence of environmental factors. Our exploration investigates the intrinsic mechanisms linking the microbiota and its host. Furthermore, we have also provided a comprehensive review of the immune mechanisms by which microbiota are implicated in the development of lung cancer. Dysbiosis of the respiratory microbiota can promote or inhibit tumor progression through various mechanisms, including DNA damage and genomic instability, activation and regulation of the innate and adaptive immune systems, and stimulation of epithelial cells leading to the upregulation of carcinogenesisrelated pathways. KEYWORDS lung cancer, respiratory tract, commensal microbiome dysbiosis, immune mechanisms, chrom

FAQs

How does this review connect respiratory microbiota with lung cancer outcomes?

It explains how respiratory symbiotic microorganisms and their metabolites influence immune function and contribute to lung cancer pathophysiology. It also summarizes how dysbiosis can promote or inhibit tumor progression through multiple mechanisms.

Which respiratory locations are covered for microbiome comparison?

The review focuses on multiple anatomical sites including saliva, sputum, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), bronchial brush samples, and tissue.

What barriers have historically limited detection of lower respiratory bacteria?

It notes that sampling techniques and culturing methodology restricted culture-based identification, detecting only a small fraction of bacteria. Molecular methods such as DNA sequencing have revealed additional, otherwise undetectable microorganisms.

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Patrick