Microbiome and Cancer


Book Description

This book ventures into a new and exciting area of discovery that directly ties our current knowledge of cancer to the discovery of microorganisms associated with different types of cancers. Recent studies demonstrate that microorganisms are directly linked to the establishment of cancers and that they can also contribute to the initiation, as well as persistence of, the cancers. Microbiome and Cancer covers the current knowledge of microbiome and its association with human cancers. It provides important reading for novices, senior undergraduates in cancer and microbiology, graduate students, junior investigators, residents, fellows and established investigators in the fields of cancer and microbiology. We cover areas related to known, broad concepts in microbiology and how they can relate to the ongoing discoveries of the micro-environment and the changes in the metabolic and physiologic states in that micro-environment, which are important for the ongoing nurturing and survival of the poly-microbial content that dictates activities in that micro-environment. We cover the interactions of microorganisms associated with gastric carcinomas, which are important for driving this particular cancer. Additional areas include oral cancers, skin cancers, ovarian cancers, breast cancers, nasopharyngeal cancers, lung cancers, mesotheliomas, Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas, glioblastoma multiforme, hepatocellular carcinomas, as well as the inflammatory response related to the infectious agents in cancers. This book covers the metabolic changes that occur because of infection and their support for development of cancers, chronic infection and development of therapeutic strategies for detection and control of the infection. The field of microbiome research has exploded over the last five years, and we are now understanding more and more about the context in which microorganisms can contribute to the onset of cancers in humans. The field of microbiome research has demonstrated that the human body has specific biomes for tissues and that changes in these biomes at the specific organ sites can result in disease. These changes can result in dramatic differences in metabolic shifts that, together with genetic mutations, will produce the perfect niche for establishment of the particular infection programmes in that organ site. We are just beginning to understand what those changes are and how they influence the disease state. Overall, we hope to bring together the varying degrees of fluctuations in the microbiome at the major organ sites and how these changes affect the normal cellular processes because of dysregulation, leading to proliferation of the associated tissues.




Microbiome in Human Health and Disease


Book Description

The book provides an overview on how the microbiome contributes to human health and disease. The microbiome has also become a burgeoning field of research in medicine, agriculture & environment. The readers will obtain profound knowledge on the connection between intestinal microbiota and immune defense systems, medicine, agriculture & environment. The book may address several researchers, clinicians and scholars working in biomedicine, microbiology and immunology. The application of new technologies has no doubt revolutionized the research initiatives providing new insights into the dynamics of these complex microbial communities and their role in medicine, agriculture & environment shall be more emphasized. Drawing on broad range concepts of disciplines and model systems, this book primarily provides a conceptual framework for understanding these human-microbe, animal-microbe & plant-microbe, interactions while shedding critical light on the scientific challenges that lie ahead. Furthermore this book explains why microbiome research demands a creative and interdisciplinary thinking—the capacity to combine microbiology with human, animal and plant physiology, ecological theory with immunology, and evolutionary perspectives with metabolic science.This book provides an accessible and authoritative guide to the fundamental principles of microbiome science, an exciting and fast-emerging new discipline that is reshaping many aspects of the life sciences. These microbial partners can also drive ecologically important traits, from thermal tolerance to diet in a typical immune system, and have contributed to animal and plant diversification over long evolutionary timescales. Also this book explains why microbiome research presents a more complete picture of the biology of humans and other animals, and how it can deliver novel therapies for human health and new strategies.




Radiation Chimeras


Book Description




The Human Microbiome, Diet, and Health


Book Description

The Food Forum convened a public workshop on February 22-23, 2012, to explore current and emerging knowledge of the human microbiome, its role in human health, its interaction with the diet, and the translation of new research findings into tools and products that improve the nutritional quality of the food supply. The Human Microbiome, Diet, and Health: Workshop Summary summarizes the presentations and discussions that took place during the workshop. Over the two day workshop, several themes covered included: The microbiome is integral to human physiology, health, and disease. The microbiome is arguably the most intimate connection that humans have with their external environment, mostly through diet. Given the emerging nature of research on the microbiome, some important methodology issues might still have to be resolved with respect to undersampling and a lack of causal and mechanistic studies. Dietary interventions intended to have an impact on host biology via their impact on the microbiome are being developed, and the market for these products is seeing tremendous success. However, the current regulatory framework poses challenges to industry interest and investment.




Bugs as Drugs


Book Description

Examining the enormous potential of microbiome manipulation to improve health Associations between the composition of the intestinal microbiome and many human diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease, cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders, and cancer, have been elegantly described in the past decade. Now, whole-genome sequencing, bioinformatics, and precision gene-editing techniques are being combined with centuries-old therapies, such as fecal microbiota transplantation, to translate current research into new diagnostics and therapeutics to treat complex diseases. Bugs as Drugs provides a much-needed overview of microbes in therapies and will serve as an excellent resource for scientists and clinicians as they carry out research and clinical studies on investigating the roles the microbiota plays in health and disease. In Bugs as Drugs, editors Robert A. Britton and Patrice D. Cani have assembled a fascinating collection of reviews that chart the history, current efforts, and future prospects of using microorganisms to fight disease and improve health. Sections cover traditional uses of probiotics, next-generation microbial therapeutics, controlling infectious diseases, and indirect strategies for manipulating the host microbiome. Topics presented include: How well-established probiotics support and improve host health by improving the composition of the intestinal microbiota of the host and by modulating the host immune response. The use of gene editing and recombinant DNA techniques to create tailored probiotics and to characterize next-generation beneficial microbes. For example, engineering that improves the anti-inflammatory profile of probiotics can reduce the number of colonic polyps formed, and lactobacilli can be transformed into targeted delivery systems carrying therapeutic proteins or bioengineered bacteriophage. The association of specific microbiota composition with colorectal cancer, liver diseases, osteoporosis, and inflammatory bowel disease. The gut microbiota has been proposed to serve as an organ involved in regulation of inflammation, immune function, and energy homeostasis. Fecal microbiota transplantation as a promising treatment for numerous diseases beyond C. difficile infection. Practical considerations for using fecal microbiota transplantation are provided, while it is acknowledged that more high-quality evidence is needed to ascertain the importance of strain specificity in positive treatment outcomes. Because systems biology approaches and synthetic engineering of microbes are now high-throughput and cost-effective, a much wider range of therapeutic possibilities can be explored and vetted. If you are looking for online access to the latest clinical microbiology content, please visit www.wiley.com/learn/clinmicronow.




Ovarian Cancer Biomarkers


Book Description

This book comprehensively summarizes the biology, etiology, and pathology of ovarian cancer and explores the role of deep molecular and cellular profiling in the advancement of precision medicine. The initial chapter discusses our current understanding of the origin, development, progression and tumorigenesis of ovarian cancer. In turn, the book highlights the development of resistance, disease occurrence, and poor prognosis that are the hallmarks of ovarian cancer. The book then reviews the role of deep molecular and cellular profiling to overcome challenges that are associated with the treatment of ovarian cancer. It explores the use of genome-wide association analysis to identify genetic variants for the evaluation of ovarian carcinoma risk and prognostic prediction. Lastly, it highlights various diagnostic and prognostic ovarian cancer biomarkers for the development of molecular-targeted therapy.




Nanotechnology for Microfluidics


Book Description

The book focuses on microfluidics with applications in nanotechnology. The first part summarizes the recent advances and achievements in the field of microfluidic technology, with emphasize on the the influence of nanotechnology. The second part introduces various applications of microfluidics in nanotechnology, such as drug delivery, tissue engineering and biomedical diagnosis.




Oncoimmunology


Book Description

In this book, leading experts in cancer immunotherapy join forces to provide a comprehensive guide that sets out the main principles of oncoimmunology and examines the latest advances and their implications for clinical practice, focusing in particular on drugs with FDA/EMA approvals and breakthrough status. The aim is to deliver a landmark educational tool that will serve as the definitive reference for MD and PhD students while also meeting the needs of established researchers and healthcare professionals. Immunotherapy-based approaches are now inducing long-lasting clinical responses across multiple histological types of neoplasia, in previously difficult-to-treat metastatic cancers. The future challenges for oncologists are to understand and exploit the cellular and molecular components of complex immune networks, to optimize combinatorial regimens, to avoid immune-related side effects, and to plan immunomonitoring studies for biomarker discovery. The editors hope that this book will guide future and established health professionals toward the effective application of cancer immunology and immunotherapy and contribute significantly to further progress in the field.




Skin Microbiome Handbook


Book Description

The book provides a comprehensive detailed summary of current status on skin microbiome research in health and disease as well as key regulatory and legal aspects. In the past decade, interest and technology have greatly advanced to unravel the nature and effect of skin microbiome on our health. Diseases such as atopic dermatitis and acne are at the forefront of this research, but also other conditions such as skin cancer are under investigation. In addition, mapping of the skin microbiome has gone from basic to more detailed with attempts to correlate it to various ages, ethnicities and genders. In parallel to mapping it, a great deal of research is dedicated to understanding its functionality and communication (and hence effect) on human cells. The Skin Microbiome Handbook is a summary of current status of knowledge, research tools and approaches in skin microbiome, in health and disease. It contains the following categories: healthy skin microbiome and oral-skin interaction; skin microbiome observational research; skin microbiome in disequilibrium and disease; skin's innate immunity; testing and study design; regulatory and legal aspects for skin microbiome related products. The 18 chapters of the book are written by carefully selected leaders in the academia and industry exhibiting extensive experience and understanding in the areas of interest.




Gut Feelings


Book Description

Why the microbiome--our rich inner ecosystem of microorganisms--may hold the keys to human health. We are at the dawn of a new scientific revolution. Our understanding of how to treat and prevent diseases has been transformed by knowledge of the microbiome--the rich ecosystem of microorganisms that is in and on every human. These microbial hitchhikers may hold the keys to human health. In Gut Feelings, Alessio Fasano and Susie Flaherty show why we must go beyond the older, myopic view of microorganisms as our enemies to a broader understanding of the microbiome as a parallel civilization that we need to understand, respect, and engage with for the benefit of our own health.