Changing the gut microbiome turns it into a cancer fighter

A fecal transplant could kick-start a compromised gut, and even help patients overcome advanced cancers, a new study has discovered.

Stool or fecal transplants can repopulate the gut microbiome with ‘good’ bacteria that help cancer patients respond to immunotherapy, a treatment that harnesses the healing powers of the immune system.

In one study, patients with advanced melanoma were successfully treated with immunotherapy after a fecal transplant. They had not initially responded to the treatment because their gut had become compromised, say researchers from the National Cancer Institute’s Center for Cancer Research.

Six of the 15 patients in the study responded to the transplant and went on to be successfully treated by immunotherapy. One patient is still showing positive responses two years later. The gut of those who responded had greater amounts of bacteria that activate the immune system’s ‘killer’ T cells.

Changing the gut microbiome could also be reprogramming cancer tumors to make them susceptible to immunotherapy, said Giorgio Trinchiere, one of the researchers.

(Source: Science, 2021; 371: 595)

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