Radiotherapy and Commensal Microbiome

Radiotherapy is employed to fight against benign and malignant cancers and can be used alone or combined with chemotherapy, immunotherapy and surgery. More than half of patients with cancer will receive radiotherapy. With the increasing numbers of cancer survivors, the emphasis on radiation oncology has expanded beyond cure to reduce the intertwined adverse side effects, which may substantially degrade the life quality of patients. The radiotherapy toxicity is strongly dependent on the targeted tissue and includes gastrointestinal damage, cardiopneumatic toxicity, cognitive impairment, reproductive disorders, oral mucositis, hair loss, secondary malignancy. In addition, commensal microbiota is involved in the occurrence and development of complications. In clinical trial and experimental models, faecal microbiota transplantation and gut microbial metabolites have been identified as promising therapeutic avenues for radiation enteritis.

The commensal microbiome, including the microorganisms that dwelt in the oral cavity, respiratory tract, skin, and microbial bioactive agents, are a potential resource for screening novel options to battle against radiotherapy toxicity. In addition to repairing the radiation injuries directly, improving the radiosensitivity of tumor tissues to lower the cumulative dose can also reduce the complications of radiotherapy. In this issue, we are interested in applying the symbiotic microbiome to alleviate the adverse side effects entwined with radiotherapy.

This Research Topic accepts Review and Original Research. The themes include but are not limited to:

• Radiation-induced organ injury and local microbiome,
• Commensal microbiome and radiosensitization,
• Diet, nutrition supply and probiotics for rehabilitation,
• Gut microbiota and radiotoxicity of distal organs, such as lungs, reproductive system, kidney.