Molecular mechanisms involved in the anticancer activities of probiotics and postbiotics.
4 affiliations
- 1Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy.
- 2Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy.
- 3Department of Agriculture Food Natural Science Engineering (DAFNE), University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy.
- 4Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy. [email protected].
Abstract
Probiotics promote host health and have shown potential as both prophylactics and adjuvants for the treatment of several human diseases. Therefore, medical interest in these microorganisms has increased rapidly. Recently, probiotics along with postbiotics, i.e., their inanimated counterparts, have been explored for their capacity to treat cancer, a vast group of diseases characterized by uncontrolled cell proliferation, which represents a major global health burden and is the second leading cause of death worldwide. The present review collects and discusses recent preclinical studies addressing the anticancer action of probiotics and postbiotics from lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacteria, and describes the molecular mechanisms by which they hamper some major hallmarks of tumor cells, i.e., through stimulation of apoptosis, blockade of proliferation and the cell cycle, inhibition of metastasis, metabolic interference, activation of the host anti-cancer immune response. The medical use of probiotics should rely on an extensive understanding of the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying their anticancer activities. Accordingly, this review aims to provide insights into the advancements and limitations of the current research in this field, which is strongly needed to provide solid rationales for the prospective clinical use of probiotics in cancer.
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BibTeX
@article{rocchetti2026molecular,
title = {{Molecular mechanisms involved in the anticancer activities of probiotics and postbiotics.}},
author = {Maria Teresa Rocchetti and Domenica Mangieri and Giuseppe Spano and Daniela Fiocco},
journal = {Cancer cell international},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1186/s12935-026-04411-2},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42907880},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Molecular mechanisms involved in the anticancer activities of probiotics and postbiotics.
AU - Maria Teresa Rocchetti
AU - Domenica Mangieri
AU - Giuseppe Spano
AU - Daniela Fiocco
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/01
JO - Cancer cell international
DO - 10.1186/s12935-026-04411-2
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42907880
AB - Probiotics promote host health and have shown potential as both prophylactics and adjuvants for the treatment of several human diseases. Therefore, medical interest in these microorganisms has increased rapidly. Recently, probiotics along with postbiotics, i.e., their inanimated counterparts, have been explored for their capacity to treat cancer, a vast group of diseases characterized by uncontrolled cell proliferation, which represents a major global health burden and is the second leading cause of death worldwide. The present review collects and discusses recent preclinical studies addressing the anticancer action of probiotics and postbiotics from lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacteria, and describes the molecular mechanisms by which they hamper some major hallmarks of tumor cells, i.e., through stimulation of apoptosis, blockade of proliferation and the cell cycle, inhibition of metastasis, metabolic interference, activation of the host anti-cancer immune response. The medical use of probiotics should rely on an extensive understanding of the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying their anticancer activities. Accordingly, this review aims to provide insights into the advancements and limitations of the current research in this field, which is strongly needed to provide solid rationales for the prospective clinical use of probiotics in cancer.
SN - 1475-2867
ER -