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| The study suggests that the presence of a certain type of bacteria called B. fragilis might push gut tissue toward inflammation rather than protect from it. |
CANCER DIGEST – Sept. 18, 2021 – Can the presence of certain types of bacteria in the gut predict the formation of colon polyps? That’s the question Dr. William De Paolo, at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle asks.
To find out DePaolo and colleagues tracked 40 patients who had undergone routine colonoscopies and had polyps removed along with additional samples of tissue near polyps. They also biopsied tissue from patients that had no polyps. The tissue samples were examined for the type of bacteria present in the area around the polyp and compared to the bacteria in patients with no polyps.
What they found was that there was a distinct difference in the microbes in the tissue around polyps that was not found in patients with no polyps. In addition, they were able to link the amount of a specific strain of bacteria called B. fragilis with inflammation of small polyps. The study appears in the Sept. 17, 2021 journal Cell & Microbe.
“What our data suggests is that, in order to survive within an environment where metabolic and inflammatory changes are occurring, a normally healthy gut and related bacteria may adapt in such a way that causes it to contribute to the inflammation rather than suppress it,” DePaolo explained.
He theorized that new screenings for colon cancer could look for key bacteria inhabiting the gut – and the amounts of this particular strain of B. fragilis – before pre-cancerous polyps even develop.
The next step in his research is to expand the study to 200 patients to determine if a fecal sample might allow detection of the cancer-promoting bacteria without a biopsy.
Source: University of Washington press release
What they found was that there was a distinct difference in the microbes in the tissue around polyps that was not found in patients with no polyps. In addition, they were able to link the amount of a specific strain of bacteria called B. fragilis with inflammation of small polyps. The study appears in the Sept. 17, 2021 journal Cell & Microbe.
“What our data suggests is that, in order to survive within an environment where metabolic and inflammatory changes are occurring, a normally healthy gut and related bacteria may adapt in such a way that causes it to contribute to the inflammation rather than suppress it,” DePaolo explained.
He theorized that new screenings for colon cancer could look for key bacteria inhabiting the gut – and the amounts of this particular strain of B. fragilis – before pre-cancerous polyps even develop.
The next step in his research is to expand the study to 200 patients to determine if a fecal sample might allow detection of the cancer-promoting bacteria without a biopsy.
Source: University of Washington press release
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