Research progress on probiotics for the prevention and treatment of oral and gastrointestinal chemoradiotherapy mucositis

Mucositis is the most common side effect of radiotherapy and chemotherapy. It is an inflammatory disease with an unclear pathogenesis, diverse clinical manifestations and no effective treatment. It often manifests as local mucosal burning and stinging pain in the oral cavity and nausea, vomiting and diarrhea in the gastrointestinal tract. At present, it has been found that local microflora imbalance promotes the occurrence and development of chemoradiotherapy mucositis, and probiotics can be used as an emerging approach to prevent and treat mucositis. This paper reviews the research progress of probiotics in the prevention and treatment of oral and gastrointestinal chemoradiotherapy mucositis, focusing on the influence of microorganisms on the pathogenesis and treatment of gastrointestinal mucositis. Literature review results showed that the occurrence and development of mucositis may be related to changes in the composition and function of local microflora, and probiotics can play a preventive role by regulating local microecology and host immunity. At present, the main probiotics used in the prevention and treatment of mucositis are Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium. Most clinical trials have confirmed that probiotics have a positive effect in the prevention and treatment of mucositis. However, due to the variety of probiotics and different tumor treatment regimens, prevention and treatment effects may not be observed in some studies. Therefore, the selection of probiotics with high efficacy and safety and the design of the best combination of probiotics and intervention programs are current research hotspots.