Purpose: Rapid developments in high throughput screening technology for the detection and identification of the human microbiota have helped in understanding its influence on human health and disease. In the recent past, several seminal studies have demonstrated the influence of microbiota on outcomes of therapy-associated radiation exposure. In this review, we highlight the concepts related to the mechanisms by which radiation alters the microbiota composition linked with radiation-associated toxicity in head and neck and pelvic regions. We further discuss specific microbial changes that can be employed as a biomarker for radiation and tumor response.

Conclusion: Knowledge of the influence of microbiota in radiation response and advances in microbiota manipulation techniques would help to design personalized treatment augmenting the efficacy of radiotherapy.

目的：用于检测和鉴定人类微生物群的高通量筛选技术的飞速发展有助于了解其对人类健康和疾病的影响。在最近的过去，几项开创性研究已经证明了微生物群对与治疗相关的辐射暴露结果的影响。在这篇综述中，我们重点介绍了与辐射改变头部和颈部以及骨盆区域中与辐射相关的毒性相关的微生物群组成的机制有关的概念。我们进一步讨论了可以用作放射和肿瘤反应的生物标志物的特定微生物变化。

结论：了解微生物群对放射反应的影响以及微生物群操纵技术的进步将有助于设计个性化的治疗方法，从而提高放射治疗的功效。