Investigational Microbiological Therapy for Glioma

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Glioma is a life-threatening malignancy where conventional therapies are ineffective, and microorganisms are a promising weapon that can be used in cancer treatment. In order to promote the use of microbial therapies in glioma, this article summarizes the microorganisms that have been used for glioma treatment in recent years and their mechanisms and how the gut flora affect glioma progression, suggesting the current limitations of this approach and possible future directions for its development. This paper may bring new inspiration to those who investigate glioma, promote the progress of glioma therapy research, and bring new promise to glioma patients. ABSTRACT: Glioma is the most common primary malignancy of the central nervous system (CNS), and 50% of patients present with glioblastoma (GBM), which is the most aggressive type. Currently, the most popular therapies are progressive chemotherapy and treatment with temozolomide (TMZ), but the median survival of glioma patients is still low as a result of the emergence of drug resistance, so we urgently need to find new therapies. A growing number of studies have shown that the diversity, bioactivity, and manipulability of microorganisms make microbial therapy a promising approach for cancer treatment. However, the many studies on the research progress of microorganisms and their derivatives in the development and treatment of glioma are scattered, and nobody has yet provided a comprehensive summary of them. Therefore, in this paper, we review the research progress of microorganisms and their derivatives in the development and treatment of glioma and conclude that it is possible to treat glioma by exogenous microbial therapies and targeting the gut–brain axis. In this article, we discuss the prospects and pressing issues relating to these therapies with the aim of providing new ideas for the treatment of glioma.