Probiotics are live microorganisms, which confer a health benefit to the host after administering them in adequate amounts. Health benefits of probiotics include antimicrobial activity and gastrointestinal infections, effectiveness against diarrhoea and Helicobacter pylori infection, improvement in lactose metabolism, reduction in serum cholesterol, inflammatory bowel disease, immune system stimulation, antimutagenic properties, and anti-carcinogenic properties. Since probiotics exhibit a positive health impact, many researchers pay attention to the role of probiotics in the enhancement of the immunological response of the host and also in colon cancer prevention and treatment. Probiotic strains, either live or dead cells, belong to the genera Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, which are typically evaluated for their immunomodulatory effect on the immune system. These strains can improve the immunological response both in vitro and in vivo. Many mechanisms of probiotics in the prevention and treatment of colon cancer have been proposed. Several studies demonstrate that probiotics and synbiotics exert an anti-carcinogenic effect on colon cancer cells (in vitro) as well as in clinical trials (in vivo). These studies illustrate that probiotics and synbiotics are applied as adjunctive or alternative therapeutic agents for colon cancer management.
Keywords: Colon cancer, Immunomodulatory effect, Lactic acid bacteria, Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, Probiotics, Preventive effect.
