Researchers Uncovered The Role That Gut Bacteria Plays In The Effectiveness Of Chemotherapy Among Pancreatic Cancer Patients
A recent study conducted by a sizable team of cancer researchers from Germany has discovered how gut bacteria positively impact cancer treatments.
They specifically studied how gut microbiota impacts chemotherapy provided to patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma– the findings of which were published in the medical journal Nature.
Previous research has found that chemotherapy sometimes works well for pancreatic cancer that has metastasized. However, the treatment is also sometimes ineffective– which may be linked to dietary resistance.
The exact source of this adverse effect is unknown, though. So, the researchers decided to study the possible role that specific microorganisms in the gut microbiome play in the process.
The team first began by analyzing samples of the gut microbiome taken from pancreatic cancer patients. They were then able to pinpoint differences between patients who responded to the cancer treatment and those who did not.
Next, the researchers decided to administer biome samples from mice that responded to chemotherapy to mice with sterilized guts. They found that afterward, the mice with previously sterilized guts responded well to chemotherapy.
Afterward, the team collected blood samples from patients who responded well, as well as those who did not respond well, to chemotherapy in order to gain a better understanding of the gut microbiome’s role in chemotherapy effectiveness.
They ultimately found higher levels of a molecule known as 3-IAA in patients that responded better to the cancer treatment. And upon further investigation, the researchers learned these molecules were produced by two gut bacteria strains.
So, the team then attempted to add 3-IAA directly to the food eaten by cancerous mouse models. Afterward, they found that these mice also became more responsive to chemotherapy treatment.
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The researchers detailed how 3-IAA is produced in the gut after amino acids interact with an acid known as tryptophan– which is found in various types of food. So, additional tests with the cancerous mouse models showed that raising the amount of food consumed– which contained this acid– may help chemotherapy.
While trying to ascertain why higher levels of 3-IAA enabled chemotherapy to be more effective, the researchers found that the molecules’ presence led to the modulation of neutrophils– a type of immune cell.
So, the team concluded that 3-IAA is “a key amplifier” of the chemotherapy response. They suggested that gut microbes can help in the fight against cancer by sending chemicals to remote tumors via the bloodstream– where they boost chemotherapy chemicals by stirring the immune system into action.
To read the study’s complete findings, visit the link here.
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