- Researchers investigated how gut bacteria influence the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) treatment in mice.
- They found that ICIs allow certain gut bacteria to travel to tumor sites, where they activate the immune system to kill cancer cells.
- Further study is needed to confirm whether these findings may apply to humans.
However, up to
It remains unclear which gut bacteria are most effective for increasing ICI response and how gut bacteria improve immune response.
Recently, researchers investigated how gut bacteria diversity influences ICI efficacy in a mouse model of melanoma.
They found that ICI treatment causes inflammation in the digestive system, allowing bacteria to leave the intestines and travel to lymph nodes near tumors, where they activate immune cells.
The study appears in Science Immunology.
Dr. Anton Bilchik, surgical oncologist and division chair of general surgery at Providence Saint John’s Health Center and chief of medicine and director of the Gastrointestinal and Hepatobiliary Program at Saint John’s Cancer Institute in Santa Monica, CA, not involved in the study, told Medical News Today:
“Since there is a plethora of research studying the impact of the gut microbiome on the immune system this provides a novel explanation as to how immunotherapy may work outside of the intestinal tract. Furthermore, it shows the…
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