Advances in engineered bacteria for cancer therapy

The role of bacteria in tumor development has become clear with advances in sequencing technologies. Live bacterial therapy, known for its unique tumor-targeting, colonization, and immune-activating properties, is increasingly applied in cancer treatment. To improve safety and therapeutic efficacy, various engineering techniques have been developed to modify bacteria, facilitating the construction of bacterial-based drug delivery systems. This review summarizes the relationship between bacteria and tumors, highlights engineering methods such as physicochemical techniques and synthetic biology for bacterial modification, and examines their applications in enhancing cancer therapies. Finally, we explore the current challenges and future opportunities in applying engineered bacteria for cancer treatment. • Live bacterial therapy is increasingly applied to cancer therapy because of its unique tumor-targeting, colonization, and immune-activating properties. • We summarize the modification methods for engineered bacteria. • The main applications of engineered bacteria in cancer therapy.