THE CASE FOR BACTERIA INVOLVEMENT IN CANCER BUILDS
Many associations of cancers to virus interplay are already established. So, this article will just look at the rather new bacterial connections. Many different types of bacteria inhabit the intestinal tract of humans. Most are beneficial while some are potentially harmful if not keep in check by the helpful bacteria. They all live together and function for health when the chemistry is normal. When conditions change from healthy to unhealthy in the digestive tract, such as a change in pH, the harmful bacteria begin to multiply and begin to generate disease processes that increase over time. One helpful benefit of the good bacteria that can get compromised is that they help to cement the cells lining the digestive tract together to prevent holes or leaks.* Intestinal Barrier Tight Junction (TJ) proteins are involved. When holes are present, a number of bad things can develop. Undigested proteins can get inside the body and cause allergic reactions. Plus, the large bacteria can also fit through the holes and travel to cells where they should not normally be found. Cancer cells appear to attract certain types of bacteria that are not found in normal cells. How did they get access into the body? Do fusobacterium participate as a cause of colon cancer or do they just arrive after the cells DNA becomes mutated and condtions change that favor this bacteria type growth? article
The relationship of bacteria to cancer reveals a lot about bacterium actions. As for known links to cancers, the bacteria in the stomach, H Pylori, is known to be associated with stomach cancers as well as ulcers. Some bacteria have been found to exhibit actions to stop cancer cells while other bacteria act opposite to block the action of chemo drugs and allow cancer cells to grow. article Scientists are genetically modifying some bacteria to increase this cancer killing effect, but so far in animal studies, these bacteria also have undesirable side effects.
What does this reveal about probiotics?
Bacteria in the body work synergistic with body functions to help keep the system healthy. Their only pay request for this benefit is to be supplied with the food elements they love to eat and also to maintain a pH chemistry that is favorable for their growth. Unfortunately, if these requests are not satisfied, the usually smaller in number and weaker pathogenic type bacterial get the upper hand and begin a battle to destroy the beneficial bacteria and ultimately, the body becomes diseased. article
Probiotic bacteria immunotherapy research is still in very early discovery mode. But the fact that certain unhealthy bacteria, like fusobacterium, have recently been found in the majority of certain cancers is building the case for antibiotic use with chemo drugs. In animal studies, killing the bacteria with antibiotics in these cancers reveals that the tumors slow or stop growing. This is very early work and will have to be tested in humans. ref
The leaky gut syndrome apparently represents a very important immune system function for the good bacteria that should inhabit and predominate in the human intestinal tract. Keeping harmful bacteria types out of the body and or under control is worthwhile in many ways, with cancer actions now one very critical aspect. But, bacteria can also enter the body from other avenues such as through the eyes, nose, mouth, ears, broken skin, sores and insect or animal bites, etc. Contaminated food or water is an obvious vehicle for entry as well as from surgical incisions.
SIDEBAR: A Surgeon noticed after a patient with a cancer growing in his cheek developed a strep throat, the cancer began shrinking. Strep throat is caused by the Streptococcus pyogenes bacteria. The doctor then put together the observation facts that after surgery for cancer removal, the patients that developed post-surgical infections were most likely to recover from the cancer. He injected the Streptococcus bacteria to test on some cases and observed the same beneficial results. This was in the 1930's, and after the death of Dr. Coley, this application of bacteria was abandoned for chemo drugs and radiation. Not until 2014 was a drug, Anti-PD1, approved for melanoma using Dr Coley's bacteria immunotherapy concept. And it effectively works according to Dr. Ribas at UCLA Medical.
While the use of probiotics is very helpful to prevent pathogenic bacteria from getting a hold and growing in the intestinal tract, these others sources need a very strong innate immune system body wide. The intestinal tract good bacteria actually do help with this as they send messengers around the body as part of this innate immune system. The blood stream is of course an area of immune importance as it allows the pathogenic bacteria and viruses to travel around in the body to the cell types they can trick into allowing entrance.
This interesting field will continue to grow and gain acceptance.
*There are other elements that can cause leaky gut syndrome too. Lectins found in many foods have lately become a suspect.