#Suggested Reading
#Suggested Reading
30.07.2024
The role of microbiota and obesity in cancer
Brazilian molecular biologist explains study that traces the correlation between microbiota and obesity in more advanced diseases with worse prognoses
A study conducted at Guangzhou University, in China, sought to explain the correlation between high-fat diets and the development of various diseases, including some types of cancer | Image: Shutterstock
WHAT I RECOMMEND
The scientific article “A high-fat diet promotes cancer progression by inducing gut microbiota-mediated leucine production and PMN-MDSC differentiation,” published on May 6, 2024, in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
WHY IS IT WORTH READING?
It has long been known that a high-fat diet is a risk factor for developing various diseases, including some types of tumors, such as prostate, ovarian, endometrial, colorectal, and breast cancer.
In this study, published in the PNAS journal, a group from Guangzhou University, in China, obtained interesting results in an attempt to explain this correlation.
The study by Chen et al. identified significant changes in the microbiota of patients with breast cancer and the microbiota-obesity axis was associated with more advanced diseases and worse prognoses.
Through the use of animal tumor models and experiments with fecal microbiota transplantation, different diets, inoculation of specific microorganisms in animal models, and modulation of microbiota with antibiotics, this research group proved some important points.
It showed that the microbiota related to a high-fat diet—in particular, bacteria of the Desulfovibrio genus—were able to release leucine into the bloodstream, triggering the proliferation of a group of immune response suppressor cells in the bone marrow, which then reduces their anti-tumor activities.
High levels of leucine detected in the blood (produced by the microbiota) indicated abundant tumoral infiltration and worse clinical outcomes in breast cancer patients.
This revealed an important new regulatory axis involving the intestine, bone marrow, and tumors.
Furthermore, the study indicates that new treatment strategies, involving antibiotics that reduce the presence of Desulfovibrio bacteria, may indirectly increase the anti-tumor response.
However, the study still needs to be replicated in other populations and involving other tumor types. This is because the composition of the microbiota is highly dependent on diet, which, in turn, has significant cultural determinants.
Similarly, in certain circumstances, non-obese patients with a reduced anti-tumor immune response may benefit from a broader search for associations between leucine levels and tumoral prognoses.
As such, it is worth noting that new avenues of research may open up based on this important study.
Emmanuel Dias-Neto is a biologist and scientist who coordinated the Xylella fastidiosa bacterial genome project and the Human Cancer Genome Project. He is an adjunct researcher at the A.C.Camargo Cancer Center’s International Research Center in São Paulo, where he runs the Medical Genomics Laboratory. He is a professor and visiting researcher at Rutgers University, in the United States.
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