Gut bacteria molecule boosts lung cancer treatment response
- UF researchers are uncovering new insights into the complex relationship between the collection of microorganisms that live in the gut — known as the gut microbiota — and our health and immune system.
- They discovered a small compound produced naturally by gut bacteria that boosted responses to lung cancer immunotherapy treatment in mice.
- Now, the compound can be used to make a drug that could have widespread clinical impact as a combination therapy to enhance patient responses to cancer immunotherapy treatments.
UF Health Cancer Institute researchers have discovered a small compound produced naturally by gut bacteria that doubled the response to lung cancer immunotherapy treatment in mice and can now be made into a drug for testing in humans.
The findings, published Dec. 19 in Cell Reports Medicine, could have widespread clinical impact as a combination therapy with commonly used immunotherapy treatments like immune checkpoint inhibitors, which release the brakes on a patient’s own immune system to target their cancer.
“Across all cancers, only about 20% of patients who receive immune checkpoint inhibitors respond to them — 80% do not — so anything that could boost responsiveness is a blockbuster drug,” said Rachel Newsome, Ph.D., a postdoctoral associate in the lab of Christian Jobin, Ph.D., and the study’s first author. “We envision this small molecule drug could be given at the same time or before immune checkpoint therapy and boost patient responsiveness by 50% without adding any invasive treatment. Our goal is to naturally boost the activity of immunotherapy, so more people have a positive effect from treatment. We want to empty those cancer center parking lots that are so full right now.”