Is the cure for cancer… POOP?!
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Immunotherapy has been a game changer in fighting cancerous tumors. But what if it doesn’t work? Is there a plan BM?
Yunjae Kim and a nationwide team from Korea studied advanced cancers that resisted immunotherapy. Treatment NUMBER TWO? They gave patients a gut “reset” using healthy bacteria from donor stool — a poop transplant!
And? The new poo supports immune function! Doctors combined the gut reset with the same immune therapy that had failed before. In six out of thirteen patients, one tumor shrank, and five stopped growing. With no major side effects… or skidmarks.
Some say poop jokes STINK — but medicated defecation might be the next BIG one!
Reference: Kim, Y., Kim, G., Kim, S., Cho, B., Kim, S.-Y., Do, E.-J., Bae, D.-J., Kim, S., Kweon, M.-N., Song, J. S., Park, S. H., Hwang, S. W., Kim, M.-N., Kim, Y., Min, K., Kim, S.-H., Adams, M. D., Lee, C., Park, H., & Park, S. R. (2024). Fecal microbiota transplantation improves anti‑PD‑1 inhibitor efficacy in unresectable or metastatic solid cancers refractory to anti‑PD‑1 inhibitor. Cell Host & Microbe, 32(8), 1380–1393.e9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2024.06.010