Microbes in the Gut Increase Risk for Cancer

Microbes in the Gut Increase Risk for Cancer

As one of the nation’s leading cancer surgeons, Anton Bilchik is interested in a recent study that showed the presence of certain microbes in the gut could increase the risk for cancer there. Scientists already knew that inflammation plays a role in the development of colorectal cancer, but this study suggests the inflammation may cause changes in the microbes that live in the gut, creating an environment that leaves the gastrointestinal tract more vulnerable to tumor development.

The scientists induced tumors in the digestive tracts of a group of mice. Then the researchers took some of the microbes living in the guts of the mice and injected them into the digestive tracts of mice without tumors; they did not inoculate a few mice to serve as a test control. The results stunned even the researchers – mice given the microbes gathered from tumor-bearing mice later developed more than twice as many tumors as those in the control group.

The research results appeared in mBio, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology. Scientists had previously associated high levels of gut microbes with tumors, but were unclear as to whether tumors increased the microbes, or if the microbes caused the tumors. Many cancer patients suffer from imbalances in microbe levels, a condition known as dysbiosis, where bad microbes outnumber the healthy ones that can help you digest food. Results from this study made it clear that the presence of the microbes dramatically increases the development of tumors, and not the other way around.

Anton Bilchik MD hopes he can use research like this study to improve preventative care, diagnosis, and treatment for colorectal cancer.