A small research study carried out in Seoul in South Korea suggests transplanting fecal microbes from cancer patients who respond to immunotherapy could help improve the treatment response in non-responders. The small study, published in the journal Cell Host & Microbe, showed improved therapy responses in six out of thirteen…

New research by a team of Chinese, Canadian, and U.S. researchers has found that seeding newborn babies who are born via C-section with their mother’s vaginal bacteria improves neurodevelopment in the first months of life. The research, published last week in the journal Cell Host & Microbe, suggests this can…

In a boost for the microbiome field, the U.S. FDA has approved Vowst (fecal microbiota spores, live-brpk). It is the first approved orally-administered microbiota-based therapeutic to prevent recurrence of C. difficile infection (CDI). The drug, from Seres Therapeutics and Nestlé Health Science, is expected to be available in June of this year.…

According to a new study from the Yale University School of Medicine, genotoxic metabolites present in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) may play a role in the development of colorectal cancer. The authors of the study, published in the journal Science, discovered a family of genotoxins called indolimines, that…

A research collaboration between British and Swiss scientists has shown in a preclinical study how bacteria in the gut can contribute to both the progression of advanced prostate cancer and developing resistance to hormone therapy. The findings are published in the journal Science in a paper titled, “Commensal bacteria promote endocrine resistance…

Scientists from the NIH in collaboration with UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, reporting in Science, have demonstrated in a Phase II proof-of-principal study how some patients with advanced melanoma who haven’t responded to immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy, can be converted to immunotherapy responders by giving them a fecal microbiota transplant (FMT),…

A collaborative team of researchers in France has demonstrated that an imbalance in gut microbiota, or dysbiosis, promotes the onset of colorectal cancer (CRC). The scientists, who have worked together as the Oncomix group since April 2016, showed that transplanting fecal microbiota from patients with colon cancer into mice caused…

Data presented yesterday at the Digestive Disease Week (DDW) 2019 Conference by researchers from University of Texas, Galveston, suggest that the effects of coffee on our bowels seem to have little to do with caffeine. Findings from the study—which were presented at the conference yesterday in a presentation entitled “In…

The chemical triclosan is used as an antimicrobial agent in more than 2000 consumer products, from toothpaste and cosmetics to kitchenware and toys. Studies in mice by a team of scientists in the U.S. and China have now linked short-term dietary exposure to triclosan with altered gut microbiota, colonic inflammation,…

Benjamin Weinberg, M.D., of the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center has been awarded $125,000 by the Colorectal Cancer Alliance (CCA) to study differences in the colon microbiota between younger and older patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). The funding is part of CCA’s Chris4Life Research Program which focuses on young-onset CRC.…

In a new study lead by scientists at the University of Minnesota and Nantes University Hospital in France, researchers showed that the bacteria in a patient’s gut might predict their risk for life-threatening blood infections following high-dose chemotherapy. Approximately 20,000 cancer patients receive high-dose chemotherapy each year in preparation for…

A new study from City of Hope researchers suggests that a high-fiber diet may help reduce the risk of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and myeloma in patients who undergo bone marrow or stem cell transplants for blood cancer. The study, presented at the 2024 American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual meeting,…

Researchers from the University of California (UC) Irvine have shown that variability in the gut microbiome can impact the pharmacokinetics of tamoxifen, which could explain why roughly 50% of women with breast cancer don’t respond to the treatment that reduces the risk of cancer recurrence. The finding published in the…

Links between the gut and the brain were discovered many years ago, but what role does the gut microbiome play in this relationship? Recent research suggests that disruption of or abnormal activity in the gut microbiome may increase our risk for neurological disease, but whether this knowledge can be harnessed…

The trillions of microbes in the human gut play crucial roles in the development and progression of a range of autoimmune diseases, from inflammatory bowel disease to kidney disease and beyond. [CHRISTOPH BURGSTEDT/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/Getty Images]  As many as one in 10 people in the U.K.…