Every day we are used to hearing about cancer and its effects. Head and
neck cancer is one of the types of cancer which is leading to mortality. Treatment of
cancer is crucial to lead a happy and healthy life. Till today several medical strategies,
such as radiotherapy, chemotherapy, etc., have come forward to eradicate cancer, but
along with these approaches, probiotics are also taking part to dissolve this problem. In
simple words, probiotics are microorganisms that are present in fermented foods like
yogurt, cheese, creams, fermented milk, etc., which, when administered to the host,
provide health benefits. Some familiar probiotics are Lactobacillus bulgaricus, L. casei
and Streptococcus thermophilus, which are involved in cancer treatment. Much
evidence has proven its health benefits. This chapter focuses on how probiotics act on
cancer cells with an introduction to head and neck cancer, thereby triggering our
interest to probe into further research on treating cancer using probiotics.
Keywords: Chemotherapy, DNA damage, Head and neck cancer, Lactobacillus bulgaricusL. casei, Radiotherapy, Probiotics, Streptococcus thermophilus.
