A Duke University professor, Jason Locasale, PhD, is a leading researcher in metabolism, specifically cancer metabolism. Dr. Jason Locasale has a body of work that includes studying how diet can impact the efficacy of cancer drug therapies.
An article about a study published in the December 2021 issue of Chemical and Engineering News reports that those who eat a diet rich in fiber increase the fighting power of immunotherapy drugs. The study was conducted on both mice and people and found that fiber-rich food boosts the power of checkpoint inhibitors.
Naturally, proteins called T-cells (located on top of immune cells) recognize and bind with partner proteins on other cells. In some cases, the T-cell binds with tumorous cells, which prevents T-cells from fighting and destroying cancerous tissue.
To prevent this from happening, immunotherapy drugs act as immune checkpoint inhibitors by preventing T-cells from binding with tumorous partner proteins. Essentially, this removes the “off” switch on the T-cell, allowing the protein to kill cancer cells.
Modern studies in cancer research point to the microbiome Ruminococcaceae family of bacteria found in the gut in boosting the effectiveness of drug therapies in aiding the immune system to fight cancer. The first study assessed 128 participants with late-stage melanoma who consumed over 20 grams of fiber a day and did not take over-the-counter probiotics, which many cancer patients consume.
The people who ate more fiber and did not take probiotics showed marked improvements. The article did not report the effect of probiotics, citing that because patients took a wide range of probiotics, it made it difficult to discern any impacts.
However, a similar study done on mice revealed the same thing that fiber matters. Mice given a diet rich in fiber with no probiotics had higher T-cell counts in their tumors and were more successful in fighting off cancer than mice given low-fiber diets and took probiotics. Incidentally, mice with low-fiber diets showed decreased T-cell counts in their tumors. Ultimately, researchers concluded that the Ruminococcaceae family of bacteria boosts T-cell response to tumors.
An article about a study published in the December 2021 issue of Chemical and Engineering News reports that those who eat a diet rich in fiber increase the fighting power of immunotherapy drugs. The study was conducted on both mice and people and found that fiber-rich food boosts the power of checkpoint inhibitors.
Naturally, proteins called T-cells (located on top of immune cells) recognize and bind with partner proteins on other cells. In some cases, the T-cell binds with tumorous cells, which prevents T-cells from fighting and destroying cancerous tissue.
To prevent this from happening, immunotherapy drugs act as immune checkpoint inhibitors by preventing T-cells from binding with tumorous partner proteins. Essentially, this removes the “off” switch on the T-cell, allowing the protein to kill cancer cells.
Modern studies in cancer research point to the microbiome Ruminococcaceae family of bacteria found in the gut in boosting the effectiveness of drug therapies in aiding the immune system to fight cancer. The first study assessed 128 participants with late-stage melanoma who consumed over 20 grams of fiber a day and did not take over-the-counter probiotics, which many cancer patients consume.
The people who ate more fiber and did not take probiotics showed marked improvements. The article did not report the effect of probiotics, citing that because patients took a wide range of probiotics, it made it difficult to discern any impacts.
However, a similar study done on mice revealed the same thing that fiber matters. Mice given a diet rich in fiber with no probiotics had higher T-cell counts in their tumors and were more successful in fighting off cancer than mice given low-fiber diets and took probiotics. Incidentally, mice with low-fiber diets showed decreased T-cell counts in their tumors. Ultimately, researchers concluded that the Ruminococcaceae family of bacteria boosts T-cell response to tumors.
