R&I – TxPAT ***
For some cancer patients, a “poop transplant” could boost the positive effects of immunotherapy, a treatment designed to rally the immune system against cancer cells.
Not all cancer patients respond to immunotherapy drugs. For example, only about 40% of patients with advanced melanoma, a type of skin cancer, reap long-term benefit from the drugs, according to recent estimates. In trying to pinpoint the differences between patients who respond well to immunotherapy and those who don’t, scientists have zeroed in on a likely suspect: the microorganisms living in their guts.
Now, a new study, published Feb. 4 in the journal Science, adds to the growing evidence that having the right gut bugs can improve a patient’s response to immunotherapy, helping to stop disease progression or even shrink tumors.
In the study, scientists collected stool from melanoma patients who responded well to immunotherapy and then transplanted their feces (and microbes) into the guts of 15 patients who had never previously responded to the drugs. After the transplant, six of the 15 patients responded to immunotherapy for the first time, showing either tumor reduction or disease stabilization that lasted more than a year.
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Article URL : https://www.livescience.com/amp/poop-transplants-melanoma-immunotherapy.html