Bacterial derivatives mediated drug delivery in cancer therapy: a new generation strategy

Abstract Cancer is measured as a major threat to human life and is a leading cause of death. Millions of cancer patients die every year, although a burgeoning number of researchers have been making tremendous efforts to develop cancer medicine to fight against cancer. Owing to the complexity and heterogeneity of cancer, lack of ability to treat deep tumor tissues, and high toxicity to the normal cells, it complicates the therapy of cancer. However, bacterial derivative-mediated drug delivery has raised the interest of researchers in overcoming the restrictions of conventional cancer chemotherapy. In this review, we show various examples of tumor-targeting bacteria and bacterial derivatives for the delivery of anticancer drugs. This review also describes the advantages and limitations of delivering anticancer treatment drugs under regulated conditions employing these tumor-targeting bacteria and their membrane vesicles. This study highlights the substantial potential for clinical translation of bacterial-based drug carriers, improve their ability to work with other treatment modalities, and provide a more powerful, dependable, and distinctive tumor therapy. Graphical Abstract