The role of microbial pathogens in cancer development: a potential guide to anticancer drugs

Abstract Microbiological studies have proposed that bacteria are associated with all diseases; hence, the notion of microorganisms facilitating cancer. Cancer cells have become more resistant to chemotherapy treatments. The aim of this review was to advance the association of microbes to cancer development among basic science researchers and clinical scientists in order to direct the processes to minimize the cancer epidemic. Furthermore, a view on a large number of microbes being observed in the areas of tumor than that of normal tissue is presented. Microbes can be identified in precancerous tissues, suggesting their presence before the induction of cancer; therefore they should be referred to as hidden killers. Overall, cancer development is caused by infected injuries by most fungi (Aspergillus species), viruses (human papillomaviruses), bacteria (Helicobacter pylori), and parasites (Schistosoma haematobium). There is minimal awareness on the relationship between cancer and microbes including their metabolites, especially in the developing world, which further increases the risk of cancer development by microbes that can be easily eradicated using basic drugs.