The human body is undoubtedly a wonder. Despite years of research and studies, we only know a fraction of what there is to discover about our body. Diseases, mutations, processes – they are some of the few mysteries yet to be explained. There is something that brings us one step closer to unraveling those unknowns-the microbiome.
What is The Microbiome?
Our body hosts trillions of microbes. In fact, we contain almost ten times more microbes than the total number of human cells in our body. From bacteria and fungi to viruses and protozoa, there are a lot of them in our body. The genetic material of these microbes is called Microbiome. It contains two hundred times more genes than the human genome, and can weigh up to five pounds.
The bacteria found in the microbiome serve various purposes. Some of them are:
- Food digestion
- Immune system regulation
- Protection against dangerous bacteria
- Vitamin production
Ongoing Research
Despite its great impact, the microbiome was discovered only in the late 1990s. Unfortunately, as a result, we don’t know much about it. Luckily, it is a big topic in the medical field and many research initiatives have been taken all around the world to provide us with new information about unknown aspects and types of the microbiome.
The Human Microbiome Project is the leading research project regarding microbiome is called the Human Microbiome Project (HMP). This 5-year feasibility study had begun in 2008 with a budget of 150 million dollars. It was carried out in various research facilities in the US. Its purpose was to study the human body in order to describe and characterize the human microbiome in 300 healthy humans and analyze its significance in our health.
Microbiome’s Relation To Cancer
As it turns out, dysfunction of the microbiome is linked to various diseases, such as diabetes, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis. Cancer has also been proven to have some relation to it. In fact, the links between cancer and microbiome go as far as four millenniums ago. Clinical research on the topic began in 1868, however, when tumor regression was observed in patients with Streptococcus pyogenes infections. Nowadays, bacteria and fungi are believed to be much more important in cancer treatment.
Microbiome’s Impact On Bladder Cancer
The microbiome is believed to have a certain impact on bladder cancer at various stages of cancer development and treatment. There’s been limited potential to impact the bladder microenvironment using probiotics until now as it’s not easy to instill strains into the bladder directly. Making subtle changes to the microenvironment, however, won’t possibly need that kind of an invasive procedure. Furthermore, taking probiotics orally to seed the bladder before the ascension from the rectum and urethra may work along with the modulation with metabolites that are excreted from gut microbiome in urine.
Bacteria make the foremost defense against carcinogens, pathogens, and other different toxins. They’re capable of metabolizing chemotherapeutic agents along with manipulating the way the host responds. This certainly calls for more research with more personalized approaches to change the microbiome present in the urinary tract. It’s yet to be seen, however, how much it will actually influence the bladder cancer as well as other urinary cancers.
Microbiome and the Immune System
Although not many microbes are directly involved in causing cancer, many of them play a big role in its growth. This is mostly via the immune system of the hosts. A properly working gut microbiome not only helps tolerate oral food antigens and commensal bacteria, but also allows the immune system to identify any infectious bacteria and attack it to prevent infections and diseases.
How Microbiome Responds to Cancer Treatment
Knowing the significance of microbiota regarding immunity, it is intuitive that it will also respond to some types of cancer therapy. As the newest research shows, microbiome plays a crucial role in influencing both the toxicity and response to these therapies.
Stem cell transplantation. One of the initial demonstrations of the role gut microbiota has to play in toxicity and response to cancer therapy was done in the allogeneic stem cell transplant for hematologic malignancies. Such patients generally have impaired systemic immunity and Dysbiosis because their treatment includes concurrent therapies as a result of which their immunity and also the gut microbiota composition is altered significantly.
Also, it was observed that the balance in the microbiome is often times broken, resulting in the loss of health-promoting bacteria such as Faecalibacterium or Ruminococcus.
The studies also revealed that major changes in the microbiota composition along with reduced overall diversity and health-promoting obligate anaerobes like Faecalibacterium, Lactobacillus, Ruminococcus, and Blautia, and an enrichment of Clostridiales and Enterococcus was linked to the acute-GVHD onset.
Immunotherapy. The use of antibiotics has been shown to impair the anti-tumor activity in the human body. By the translocation of the gut bacteria, a prime immune reaction is prepared. In result, the tumor’s growth is greatly reduced, as well as the risk of relapses and metastasis.
The microbiome, though neglected for many years, has been proven to do wonders for our health. Whether by providing proper immunity or by hosting helpful bacteria, this group of genes has been a silent helper for a long time.
Nowadays, science supports this theory, and is planning on launching many more studies. We can hope that in the future these studies prove useful in finding new, better ways to treat cancer. With a bit of luck, the microbiome will turn out to be the key to overcoming cancer.
Dr. Paul Zhang at the Institute of Integrative BioOncology in Houston provides evidence-based treatments for a wide range of cancers. Call today for more information.
