Intestinal microbes affect the body's effect on cancer treatment

Biotechnology Channel News: Cancer immunotherapy is effective in fighting cancer by activating the body's immune systemThis strategy has become the main direction of cancer treatment in recent yearsthe unequal inhibition of treatment effects is the main problem with this therapy: while for some patients, the drug can be very effective and have lower side effects, but for others the treatment is limited and the side effects are largerresearchers have long wondered how they can further improve the effectiveness of immunotherapy, and eventually there has been some progressa team of researchers recently found that patients' responses to cancer immunotherapy are influenced by microbes in the gutSpecifically, the higher the diversity of microorganisms in the gut, the more effective the treatment isPrevious studies of mouse-level stoise at this conclusionresearchers from Texas Medical Center analyzed the microbial composition of the oral and feces samples in patients with malignant melanomaFor malignant melanomas, 35 percent of patients who survived more than two years of immunotherapy were 29.7 percent compared to 29.7 percent of those who received chemotherapyAmong the patients receiving immunotherapy, 30 had a benign response, while the remaining 13 did not respondthese patients with benign reactions have something in commonFirst, the gut microbiodiversity in their bodies is significantly higher, especially the bacteria of the gas-producing Clostridium difficile familyIn addition, the number of immune cells in their bodies that can specifically kill tumors also increased significantly compared to the population of non-responding patientsFor groups of patients who did not respond, there was a significant increase in the number of pyloris in their intestinesfindings suggest a correlation between microbial population diversity in the gut and the therapeutic effects of anti-cancer immunodrugsSimply put, if you have more microbial species in your area, the stronger the immune response than others in the fight against tumorsnext step, the researchers hope to set up a clinical trial of cancer treatment for gut microbes, the results of which will help us figure out whether there is a causal relationship or merely a correlation between the two If the results of the trial are as we had expected, it may be possible to improve the effectiveness of cancer immunotherapy in the future by giving patients just one dose of bacterial cocktail drugs, or by making a slight adjustment in diet