Engaging cancer patients on their attitudes towards microbiome engineering technologies

Abstract

Microbiome engineering aims to develop engineered live biotherapeutic products to diagnose and treat human disease. One of the most active areas is in the engineering of modified bacteria that act as cancer therapeutics, with many products currently in clinical trials. With the emergence of any novel technologies, it is important to consult the public and end users throughout their development to address any concerns that may arise from their use. This is particularly true for therapeutics, for which it is vital that both clinicians and patients have confidence in the treatments that are available to them. Here, we surveyed a cohort of cancer patients and their relatives to gauge their knowledge of modern microbiome engineering techniques. We focus predominately on the use of bacterial eLBPs to treat cancer. Overall, most participants indicated that they would be comfortable taking cancer treatment options based on microbiome engineering technologies.