Khaberni - Two studies in "Nature Medicine" showed that transplanting the gut microbiome "gut bacteria" can significantly enhance the effectiveness of cancer treatment.
The first study indicated that gut microbiome capsules help reduce the toxicity resulting from kidney cancer treatment drugs, while the second study showed that this technique improves patients' response to immunotherapy in cases of lung cancer and melanoma (skin cancer).
Gut microbiome capsules were developed at the Lawson Health Research Institute in Canada and were clinically tested at the London Health Sciences Research Institute and the University of Montreal Research Center.
In a phase one clinical trial, researchers tested on 20 kidney cancer patients to see if gut microbiome capsules were safe when combined with immunotherapy. The results showed that using gut microbiome capsules could reduce severe side effects such as colitis and diarrhea, which sometimes force patients to stop treatment.
Dr. Saman Maliki, a scientist at the London Health Sciences Research Institute said, "The standard treatment for advanced kidney cancer relies on drugs that stimulate the immune system to attack cancer cells, but these drugs often cause severe side effects. If we can reduce these toxins and help patients complete their treatment, this would be a major shift in treatment."
Phase two studies on lung cancer and melanoma patients showed that gut microbiome capsules significantly enhance the response to immunotherapy, with 80% of lung cancer patients responding to treatment after the capsules compared to a typical rate of 39–45% with immunotherapy alone, and 75% of melanoma patients showed a positive response, compared to 50–58% for immunotherapy only.
Dr. Ariel Al-Karif, a co-researcher at the University of Montreal Research Center, said, "Our trial demonstrated that transplanting the gut microbiome can enhance the effectiveness of immunotherapy by eliminating harmful bacteria, paving the way for future personalized microbial treatments."
The studies used advanced capsules known as "LND101", which are made from the intestines of healthy donors, and are swallowed by patients to restore a healthy gut microbiome, which contributes to improving the response to treatment and reducing side effects.
Dr. Michael Silverman from the Lawson Institute said, "Using gut microbiome capsules to reduce medication toxicity and improve patients' quality of life, whilst boosting the response to treatment, has never been done before in kidney cancer treatment, and this is a significant achievement."
Research teams continue to study gut microbiome capsules in other types of cancer such as pancreatic cancer and triple-negative breast cancer, while this treatment remains one of the known and effective treatments against severe intestinal infections.
Dr. Ricardo Fernandez, from the London Health Sciences Research Institute, said, "We hope that our research will someday help cancer patients live longer, with reduced harmful effects of treatment."
