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Cited by 18Bacteriophages and microbial interactionsCancer Research and TreatmentsNanoparticle-Based Drug Delivery

Phage Therapy in Managing Multidrug-Resistant (MDR) Infections in Cancer Therapy: Innovations, Complications, and Future Directions

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Mafe, Alice N., Büsselberg, Dietrich·2025·Pharmaceutics
DOI 10.3390/pharmaceutics17070820PMC PMC12298573
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Abstract

Multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial infections present a major challenge in cancer therapy, particularly for immunocompromised patients undergoing chemotherapy, radiation, or surgery. These infections often arise from prolonged antibiotic use, hospital-acquired pathogens, and weakened immune defenses, leading to increased morbidity and mortality. As conventional antibiotics become less effective against MDR strains, there is an urgent need for alternative treatment options. This review highlights phage therapy as a promising approach to managing MDR bacterial infections in cancer patients. Once widely used, phage therapy has recently regained attention as a targeted antimicrobial strategy that can specifically eliminate harmful bacteria while preserving the beneficial microbiota. Phages work by directly lysing bacteria, disrupting biofilms, and synergizing with antibiotics to restore bacterial susceptibility. These mechanisms make phage therapy especially appealing for treating infections that complicate cancer treatments. However, the clinical application of phage therapy faces challenges such as variability in phage–host interactions, regulatory hurdles, and immune responses in patients. This review identifies gaps in current research regarding the use of phage therapy for MDR infections in cancer patients. By examining recent innovations, therapeutic mechanisms, and associated limitations, we provide valuable insights into the potential of phage therapy for improving infection management in oncology. Future research should focus on refining phage delivery methods, assessing long-term safety, and exploring combination therapies to maximize clinical efficacy. Overcoming these challenges could position phage therapy as a valuable complement to existing antimicrobial strategies in cancer care.

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  • Phage-based interventions selectively target pathogenic bacteria without disrupting host immunity or commensal microbiota.

    “By selectively targeting pathogenic bacteria without disrupting host immunity or commensal microbiota, phage-based interventions offer a safer alternative to broad-spectrum antibiotics and can enable continuation of cytotoxic therapies, thereby improving clinical outcomes in oncology settings [128]”

    From Phage therapy in oncology: opportunities for cancer prevention and treatment (2026) · cites this paper as [128]

    Section 2.1 says phages selectively target bacterial strains while preserving beneficial bacteria and the host microbiome. But the claim that they do so without disrupting host immunity is too categorical: Section 4.1 describes immune reactions to administered phages, and Section 5.2 cautions about unintended interactions with immune cells and possible gut-microbiota disruption. No page numbers were available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Phage-based interventions can improve clinical outcomes in oncology settings.

    “By selectively targeting pathogenic bacteria without disrupting host immunity or commensal microbiota, phage-based interventions offer a safer alternative to broad-spectrum antibiotics and can enable continuation of cytotoxic therapies, thereby improving clinical outcomes in oncology settings [128]”

    From Phage therapy in oncology: opportunities for cancer prevention and treatment (2026) · cites this paper as [128]

    The review reports improved infection resolution in chemotherapy patients (Section 2.3) and describes phage therapy as having potential to improve oncology outcomes (Section 5.3). It also supports selective bacterial targeting and preservation of beneficial microbiota (Section 2.1). But it does not establish that phages leave host immunity unaffected or enable continuation of cytotoxic therapy; Section 4.1 instead describes uncertain immune responses to administered phages. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Phage-based interventions can enable continuation of cytotoxic therapies.

    “By selectively targeting pathogenic bacteria without disrupting host immunity or commensal microbiota, phage-based interventions offer a safer alternative to broad-spectrum antibiotics and can enable continuation of cytotoxic therapies, thereby improving clinical outcomes in oncology settings [128]”

    From Phage therapy in oncology: opportunities for cancer prevention and treatment (2026) · cites this paper as [128]

    Section 3.4 (page unavailable) says researchers are exploring phage therapy alongside chemotherapeutic agents to treat infections and reduce treatment complications. Section 2.3 reports infection resolution in patients undergoing chemotherapy. Neither passage says that phage interventions enable patients to continue cytotoxic therapy, so that specific outcome is not established by this copy. (LLM, conf=0.78)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Phage-based interventions offer a safer alternative to broad-spectrum antibiotics.

    “By selectively targeting pathogenic bacteria without disrupting host immunity or commensal microbiota, phage-based interventions offer a safer alternative to broad-spectrum antibiotics and can enable continuation of cytotoxic therapies, thereby improving clinical outcomes in oncology settings [128]”

    From Phage therapy in oncology: opportunities for cancer prevention and treatment (2026) · cites this paper as [128]

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Mafe, A. N., & Büsselberg, D.
Affiliations
  • Taraba State University (NG)
  • Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (QA)
Corresponding author
Büsselberg, Dietrich
ORCID
Venue
Pharmaceutics
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2025-06-24
Volume
17
Issue
7
Pages
820
ISSN
1999-4923 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3390/pharmaceutics17070820
PMC
PMC12298573
OpenAlex
W4411606804
Cited by
18
References
4
Citations by year
2026: 15 · 2025: 3
FWCI
1.93
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Pharmaceutics (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
National Priorities Research Program (NPRP 14S0311–210033)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Bacteriophages and microbial interactions
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Biotechnology › Cancer Research and Treatments
  • Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Biomaterials › Nanoparticle-Based Drug Delivery
Keywords
phage therapy, bacteriophages, multidrug-resistant bacterial infections, cancer patients, immunocompromised patients, chemotherapy complications, phage-host interactions, biofilm eradication, antibiotic synergy, phage delivery, phage safety, phage regulation, combination therapy

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

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