Journal
NUTRIENTS
Volume 10, Issue 10, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/nu10101405
Keywords
radiation-induced bowel injury; radiation enteritis; radiation enteropathy; pelvic radiation disease; radiotherapy; cancer management complications; microbiota; probiotics
Categories
Funding
- Medical Research Council (MRC) [MR/R001901/1]
- MRC [MR/R001901/1] Funding Source: UKRI
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Radiotherapy has played a major role in both the curative and palliative treatment of cancer patients for decades. However, its toxic effect to the surrounding normal healthy tissue remains a major drawback. In cases of intra-abdominal and/or pelvic malignancy, healthy bowel is inevitably included in the radiation field, causing undesirable consequences that subsequently manifest as radiation-induced bowel injury, which is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. The pathophysiology of radiation-induced bowel injury is poorly understood, although we now know that it derives from a complex interplay of epithelial injury and alterations in the enteric immune, nervous, and vascular systems in genetically predisposed individuals. Furthermore, evidence supporting a pivotal role for the gut microbiota in the development of radiation-induced bowel injury has been growing. In this review, we aim to appraise our current understanding of radiation-induced bowel injury and the role of the microbiome in its pathogenesis as well as prevention and treatment. Greater understanding of the relationship between the disease mechanism of radiation-induced bowel injury and gut microbiome might shed light on potential future prevention and treatment strategies through the modification of a patient's gut microbiome.
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