Overview of Bacteria and Surfactins as Anticancer Agents
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63053/ijhes.123Keywords:
Bacteria, Treatment, Cancer, Tumor, Surfactin.Abstract
Cancer is one of the deadliest diseases worldwide. Late diagnosis of this disease leads to high mortality rates. Conventional treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy have low survival rates. Bacteria are utilized in various ways in cancer treatment, primarily through their antitumor effects. Surfactins are recognized as anticancer agents; these surfactins are cyclic lipopeptides isolated from various Bacillus strains. The cytotoxic activities of surfactins against human chronic myelogenous leukemia cells, human colorectal cancer cells, and liver cancer cells are well-documented. Surfactins are targeted to cancer cells via nanocarriers or nanoformulations. The biosynthesis of surfactins is regulated by surfactin synthetase enzymes. These results position bacterial therapy as a promising treatment for cancer.
References
Ahmed, F., Zhang, D., Tang, X., & Malakar, P. K. (2024). Targeting spore-forming bacteria: A review on the antimicrobial potential of selenium nanoparticles. Foods, 13(24), 4026.
Bai, S., Luo, H., Tong, H., Wu, Y., & Yuan, Y. (2024). Advances on transfer and maintenance of large DNA in bacteria, fungi, and mammalian cells. Biotechnology Advances, 108421.
Badie, F., Ghandali, M., Tabatabaei, S. A., Safari, M., Khorshidi, A., Shayestehpour, M., … & Mirzaei, H. (2021). Use of Salmonella bacteria in cancer therapy: Direct, drug delivery, and combination approaches. Frontiers in Oncology, 11, 624759.
Chauhan, V., Pandey, A., Mahajan, G., Dhiman, V., & Kanwar, S. S. (2025). Synergistic exploration of surfactin-capped silver nanoparticles: Bioinformatics insights, antibacterial potency, and anticancer activity. 3 Biotech, 15(1), 1-17.
Curtis, N. (2024). Telling time: Patient experiences of temporality in brain tumor comics. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 67(3), 449-469.
Faghfoori, Z., Faghfoori, M. H., Saber, A., Izadi, A., & Yari Khosroushahi, A. (2021). Anticancer effects of bifidobacteria on colon cancer cell lines. Cancer Cell International, 21(1), 258.
Garbacz, K. (2022, November). Anticancer activity of lactic acid bacteria. In Seminars in Cancer Biology (Vol. 86, pp. 356-366). Academic Press.
Goh, K. S., Ng, Z. J., Halim, M., Oslan, S. N., Oslan, S. N. H., & Tan, J. S. (2022). A comprehensive review on the anticancer potential of bacteriocin: Preclinical and clinical studies. International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics, 28(2), 75.
Hayati T, Korkorian, N., & Sadeghi, A. (2025). A review of CAR T-Cell and its applications in cancer. In The Fourth World Congress on New Findings in Health, Health Sciences, and Educational Sciences. Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Hayati T, Korkorian, N., & Sadeghi, A. (2024). Drug delivery strategies for effective treatment of lower respiratory tract interventions related to antibiotic-resistant biofilms and intracellular bacteria. In The Eighth International Conference on New Findings in Medical Sciences and Health with a Focus on Health Promotion. Copenhagen, Denmark.
Hayati T, Korkorian, N., Hashemi, H., & Sadeghi, A. (n.d.). 2.24. An overview of probiotic bacteria and a brief look at its applications in industry and medicine.
Hayati, T & Sadeghi, A. (2022). A review of probiotics and their mechanisms of action on gastrointestinal infections and cancer inhibition. In The Fifth International Conference on Biology and Earth Sciences.
Hirshhorn, R. R., & Sarver, N. (2021). Mammalian expression vectors. In Recombinant DNA Principles and Methodologies (pp. 523-549). CRC Press.
Huang, J., Liu, W., Kang, W., He, Y., Yang, R., Mou, X., & Zhao, W. (2022). Effects of microbiota on anticancer drugs: Current knowledge and potential applications. EBioMedicine, 83.
Hozzein, W. N., Mohany, M., Alhawsawi, S. M., Zaky, M. Y., Al-Rejaie, S. S., & Alkhalifah, D. H. (2021). Flavonoids from marine-derived actinobacteria as anticancer drugs. Current Pharmaceutical Design, 27(4), 505-512.
Ijaz, M., Hasan, I., Chaudhry, T. H., Huang, R., Zhang, L., Hu, Z., … & Guo, B. (2024). Bacterial derivatives mediated drug delivery in cancer therapy: A new generation strategy. Journal of Nanobiotechnology, 22(1), 510.
Kamruzzaman, M., Wu, A. Y., & Iredell, J. R. (2021). Biological functions of type II toxin-antitoxin systems in bacteria. Microorganisms, 9(6), 1276.
Kim, H. S., Ahn, J. W., Damodar, K., Park, J. Y., Yoo, Y. M., & Joo, S. S. (2024). Identification and characterization of a surfactin from Pseudomonas gessardii: A symbiotic bacterium with potent anticancer activity. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 739, 150989.
Kim, H. Y., Jung, H., Kim, H. M., & Jeong, H. J. (2021). Surfactin exerts an anti-cancer effect through inducing allergic reactions in melanoma skin cancer. International Immunopharmacology, 99, 107934.
Kwon, S. Y., Thi-Thu Ngo, H., Son, J., Hong, Y., & Min, J. J. (2024). Exploiting bacteria for cancer immunotherapy. Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology, 1-21.
Li, M., Li, T., Wu, F., Ren, F., Xue, S., & Li, C. (2024). Advanced NIR-II fluorescence imaging technology for precise evaluation of nanomedicine delivery in cancer therapy. Chemosensors, 12(6), 113.
Mahdavi, S. Z. B., Oroojalian, F., Eyvazi, S., Hejazi, M., Baradaran, B., Pouladi, N., … & Muyldermans, S. (2022). An overview on display systems (phage, bacterial, and yeast display) for production of anticancer antibodies; advantages and disadvantages. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 208, 421-442.
Mahmoudi, M., Khomeiri, M., Saeidi, M., Davoodi, H., & Memarian, A. (2023). Anticancer potential of fermented milk with autochthonous lactic acid bacteria. Journal of Applied Microbiology, 134(3), lxad041.
Mali, S. B. (2024). Bioluminescence in cancer research: Applications and challenges. Oral Oncology Reports, 9, 100127.
Marie, C., & Scherman, D. (2024). Antibiotic-free gene vectors: A 25-year journey to clinical trials. Genes, 15(3), 261.
Nakkarach, A., Foo, H. L., Song, A. A. L., Mutalib, N. E. A., Nitisinprasert, S., & Withayagiat, U. (2021). Anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory effects elicited by short chain fatty acids produced by Escherichia coli isolated from healthy human gut microbiota. Microbial Cell Factories, 20, 1-17.
Niamah, A. K., Al-Sahlany, S. T. G., Verma, D. K., Shukla, R. M., Patel, A. R., Tripathy, S., … & Aguilar, C. N. (2024). Emerging lactic acid bacteria bacteriocins as anti-cancer and anti-tumor agents for human health. Heliyon, 10(17).
Siegel, R. L., Miller, K. D., & Jemal, A. (2018). Cancer statistics, 2018. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, 68(1), 7-30.
Siegel, R. L., Miller, K. D., & Jemal, A. (2019). Cancer statistics, 2019. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, 69(1), 7-34.
Tank, J. G., & Pandya, R. V. (2022). Anti-proliferative activity of surfactins on human cancer cells and their potential use in therapeutics. Peptides, 155, 170836.
Trivanović, D., Pavelić, K., & Peršurić, Ž. (2021). Fighting cancer with bacteria and their toxins. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 22(23), 12980.
Udovicich, C., Jia, A. Y., Loblaw, A., Eapen, R., Hofman, M. S., & Siva, S. (2024). Evolving paradigms in prostate cancer: The integral role of prostate-specific membrane antigen positron emission tomography/computed tomography in primary staging and therapeutic decision-making. International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics.
Walvekar, S., Yasaswi, S., Shetty, K., & Yadav, K. S. (2022). Applications of surfactin and other biosurfactants in anticancer activity. In Green Sustainable Process for Chemical and Environmental Engineering and Science (pp. 223-234). Academic Press.
Xu, H., Luo, H., Zhang, J., Li, K., & Lee, M. H. (2023). Therapeutic potential of Clostridium butyricum anticancer effects in colorectal cancer. Gut Microbes, 15(1), 2186114.
Yaghoubi, H., Bandehpoor, M., & Kazemi, B. (2016). Applications of bacteria in cancer treatment. Journal of Recent Advances in Cellular and Molecular Biotechnology, 6(24), Autumn 2016.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Authors
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The journal is licensed under a Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially.
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
- The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
- Attribution - You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- No additional restrictions - You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
