Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2019 Jan 14;25(2):151-162.
doi: 10.3748/wjg.v25.i2.151.

Role of diet and gut microbiota on colorectal cancer immunomodulation

Carolina Vieira De Almeida  1 , Marcela Rodrigues de Camargo  2 , Edda Russo  3 , Amedeo Amedei  4
Affiliations
Review

Role of diet and gut microbiota on colorectal cancer immunomodulation

Carolina Vieira De Almeida et al. World J Gastroenterol. .

Abstract

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers, and it is characterized by genetic and epigenetic alterations, as well as by inflammatory cell infiltration among malignant and stromal cells. However, this dynamic infiltration can be influenced by the microenvironment to promote tumor proliferation, survival and metastasis or cancer inhibition. In particular, the cancer microenvironment metabolites can regulate the inflammatory cells to induce a chronic inflammatory response that can be a predisposing condition for CRC retention. In addition, some nutritional components might contribute to a chronic inflammatory condition by regulating various immune and inflammatory pathways. Besides that, diet strongly modulates the gut microbiota composition, which has a key role in maintaining gut homeostasis and is associated with the modulation of host inflammatory and immune responses. Therefore, diet has a fundamental role in CRC initiation, progression and prevention. In particular, functional foods such as probiotics, prebiotics and symbiotics can have a potentially positive effect on health beyond basic nutrition and have anti-inflammatory effects. In this review, we discuss the influence of diet on gut microbiota composition, focusing on its role on gut inflammation and immunity. Finally, we describe the potential benefits of using probiotics and prebiotics to modulate the host inflammatory response, as well as its application in CRC prevention and treatment.

Keywords: Colorectal cancer; Diet; Gut microbiota; Immune response; Inflammation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Diet components can directly or indirectly act on cancer prevention or initiation/progression. Beneficial direct actions are exemplified by nutrients, which can directly protect cells from DNA damage and decrease oxidative stress. A harmful direct effect is exemplified by DNA damage, activation of growth signaling proto-oncogenes and changes in proinflammatory cytokines. Indirect beneficial and harmful effects are represented by the modulation of gut microbiota and obesity induction, respectively. HCA: Heterocyclic amines; PAH: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Karin M, Clevers H. Reparative inflammation takes charge of tissue regeneration. Nature. 2016;529:307–315. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Maeda H, Akaike T. Nitric oxide and oxygen radicals in infection, inflammation, and cancer. Biochemistry (Mosc) 1998;63:854–865. - PubMed
    1. Ellulu MS, Patimah I, Khaza’ai H, Rahmat A, Abed Y. Obesity and inflammation: the linking mechanism and the complications. Arch Med Sci. 2017;13:851–863. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wellen KE, Hotamisligil GS. Inflammation, stress, and diabetes. J Clin Invest. 2005;115:1111–1119. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Grivennikov SI, Greten FR, Karin M. Immunity, inflammation, and cancer. Cell. 2010;140:883–899. - PMC - PubMed

MeSH terms