Table 3.

Bacteria–nanoparticle hybrid systems in cancer treatment.

Bacterium	Cancer Type	Nanoparticle	Cargo	Efficacy/Therapeutic Mechanism	Ref.
S. typhimurium VNP20009	4T1 tumor	PLGA	/	Remarkable (up to 100-fold) enhancement of nanoparticle retention and distribution in solid tumors	[78]
Bifidobacterium longum	MDA-MB-231 breast tumor	PLGA	Low-boiling-point perfluorohexane (PFH)	Combination of diagnostic and therapeutic efficacyRealization of high-intensity focused ultrasound therapy against cancer	[79]
L. monocytogenes	MCF-7, HT29, KB, HepG-2 cancer cells	Polystyrene nanoparticles	GFP-encoding plasmid DNA	High resistance toward the acidic endosome environment and intracellular enzymes and successful delivery of genes into the nucleus	[83]
Escherichia coli	4T1 and CT26 tumors	Carbon nitride (C3N4) semiconductor nanomaterials	/	Achievement of approximately 80% tumor regression superior than with E. coli alone (~20%)	[85]
Salmonella typhimurium YB1	MB49 tumor	PLGA	ICG	Highly efficient photothermal ability to eradicate established solid tumors without relapse	[86]
Escherichia coli MG1655	CT26 tumor	Magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles	/	Achievement of effective tumor colonization and realization of a self-supplied therapeutic Fenton-like reaction to cure cancer without an additional H2O2 source	[87]
Escherichia coli	HOS, MG63, and U2OS cancer cells	Polydopamine nanoparticles	Ce6	An ability to provide catalase and convert endogenic hydrogen peroxide into oxygen for subsequent photodynamic therapy	[93]
Shewanella oneidensis MR-1	CT26 tumor	Manganese dioxide nanoflowers	/	MnO2 serves as electron acceptor, tumor metabolite lactic acid performs as an electron donor, resulting in continuous consumption of lactic acid in cancer cells	[94]
Synechococcus 7942	4T1 tumor	Human serum albumin nanoparticles	ICG	In situ photocatalyzed oxygen generation enabling robust immunogenic PDT against tumor growth and metastasis	[95]