New research published in PLOS ONE suggests certain intestinal bacteria could potentially be used to reduce the risk of lymphomas and other cancers.
Researchers believe doctors might be able to reduce a person’s risk of these cancers by analyzing the levels and types of intestinal bacteria in the body and then prescribing probiotics to replace or bolster the amount of bacteria with anti-inflammatory properties.
“It is not invasive and rather easy to do,” said study author Robert Schiestl, PhD, of the University of California, Los Angeles.
Dr Schiestl and his colleagues isolated a bacterium called Lactobacillus johnsonii 456, which is the most abundant of the beneficial bacteria.
The team found this bacterium reduced gene damage and inflammation, which, as they pointed out, plays a key role in cancers and other diseases.
Previous research led by Dr Schiestl presented the first evidence of a relationship between intestinal microbiota and the onset of lymphoma.
The new study explains how this microbiota might delay the onset of cancer and suggests that probiotic supplements could help keep cancer from forming.
For both studies, Dr Schiestl and his team used mice that had mutations in the gene ATM, which made them susceptible to a neurologic disorder called ataxia telangiectasia. The disorder is associated with a high incidence of leukemias, lymphomas, and other cancers.
The mice were divided into two groups—one that was given only anti-inflammatory bacteria and another that received a mix of inflammatory and anti-inflammatory microbes that typically co-exist in the intestines.
With their previous study, Dr Schiestl and his team showed that, in the mice with more of the beneficial bacteria, the lymphoma took significantly longer to form.
For the new study, the researchers analyzed metabolites in the mice’s urine and feces and found the mice that were receiving only the beneficial microbiota produced metabolites that are known to prevent cancer.
Those mice also had more efficient fat and oxidative metabolism, which the researchers believe might also lower the risk for cancer.
Among the other results, in the mice receiving only the good bacteria, lymphoma formed only half as quickly as it did in the other mice. In addition, mice with the good bacteria lived 4 times longer and had less DNA damage and inflammation.
The researchers said these findings lend credence to the idea that manipulating microbial composition could be used to prevent or alleviate cancer susceptibility. They hope that, in the future, probiotic supplements could be chemopreventive for the average person and decrease tumor incidence in cancer-susceptible populations.
The University of California, Los Angeles has a patent pending on the use of Lactobacillus johnsonii 456 as an anti-inflammatory agent.
