Gut microbiome-cancer connection: New frontier in health
Recent medical research has revealed a surprising link between our gut microbiota and one of the most debilitating diseases known to man, cancer.
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This insight is opening innovative ways by which we can prevent, diagnose and treat this disease.
Our guts are home to over a hundred trillion diverse bacteria and other microorganisms, collectively called the gut microbiota.
Most of these are beneficial to us. They aid in the digestion of foods, influence our immune system, and synthesise enzymes and neurotransmitters that aid in normal body functioning.
The disruption of this delicate ecosystem, where bad bacteria overshadow good bacteria, has been implicated in several human diseases such as obesity, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, cardiovascular disease and cancers. This is dysbiosis.
A paper published in Frontiers in Pharmacology stated the growing body of evidence on how gut dysbiosis affects various cancers such as breast, gastrointestinal, lung and colorectal cancers. Dysbiosis in the gastrointestinal tract drives tumour genesis in 20 per cent of cases, onsetting cancers and promoting their progression.
Furthermore, dysbiosis can degrade the DNA, the building block of life, by releasing genotoxins that break DNA’s double strands leading to mutations that could cause cancers.
Apart from influencing cancer genesis and progression, our microbiota can influence current therapy outcomes. Responses to immunotherapy, which is a treatment option, which boosts the immune system to fight cancer, are improved by healthy gut bacteria.
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On the other hand, an increase in negative bacteria in our gut can disrupt the immune system leading to non-response to immunotherapy.
It is important to maintain a healthy gut for a healthier life. What can we do?
• Eat a healthy diet rich in prebiotic foods such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains and oatmeal
• Include probiotic foods into diet such as probiotic yoghurt, and fermented vegetables.
• Regularly exercise and manage stress.
• Avoid overprocessed meals.
As scientists continue to unravel the mysteries of the gut microbiome-cancer connection, one thing is certain, our gut health is crucial to our general health.
Darlington Ekua Acquah,
University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho.
E-mail: [email protected]