Cancers are common
chronic diseases worldwide and cause severe health burdens. There have been ongoing debates on the role of gut microbiota in the prevention and management of
cancers, thus, it is worthwhile to pay high attention to the impacts of gut microbiota on several
cancers, such as colon, liver, and breast
cancers. In addition, it has been reported that gut microbiota may also affect the efficacy of
cancer chemotherapy and
immunotherapy. Among all the factors that influence gut microbiota, diet is the most influential and modifiable. The
prebiotics,
dietary fibers,
short-chain fatty acids, and other bioactive compounds are all important dietary components to assist the growth of beneficial microbiota in the gut, which can protect against
cancers and promote human health. Their beneficial effects can be due to the fermentation of
dietary fibers, the metabolism of
phytochemicals, the synthesis of
estrogens, and interactions with
chemotherapies and
immunotherapies. In order to provide updated information of the relationships among dietary components, gut microbiota, and
cancer, in this review, we summarize the reciprocal interactions between dietary components and gut microbiota, and highlight the impacts of dietary components on several common
cancers by targeting gut microbiota, with the potential mechanisms of actions also intensively discussed. As a result, this review can be very helpful for healthy people as well as
cancer patients to prevent or manage
cancers via dietary factor-mediated regulation of gut microbiota.