Salmonella could help stem the tide of rising colon cancer deaths

Disease-causing bacteria Salmonella could be used to fight bowel cancer, as scientists make a groundbreaking discovery.

Bowel cancer is the second most common cause of death from cancer in Britain, with around 16,800 deaths every year, making finding new ways to tackle the disease crucial.

Although bacteria, such as the food poisoning bug Salmonella, have been the focus of previous research, this has always had limited success.

This is because although the bacterium has a suppressive effect on the growth of tumor cells, it also suppresses a part of our immune system that is essential to fight tumors.

However, a new finding from Cancer Research UK-funded researchers in Glasgow and Birmingham has uncovered the mechanism that causes the immune system to be suppressed and provided a possible solution.

The paperpublished in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine, studied the response of T cells – a type of immune cell that helps protect the body against cancer – to a specially developed safe form of Salmonella in mice with colorectal cancer.

Researchers discovered that Salmonella prevents T cells from doing their job and stopping colorectal cancer cells.

The team found that the Salmonella depleted an amino acid called asparagine, which suppresses tumor growth and also suppresses T cells by halting their metabolic processes.

Researchers found that Salmonella depleted the amino acid asparagine, which suppresses tumor growth and also prevents T cells from doing their work

Lead researcher Dr Kendle Maslowski, from the Cancer Research UK Scotland Institute in Glasgow and the University of Glasgow, pictured, believes the findings show the bacteria can be engineered to help fight cancer.

But they believe Salmonella bacteria can be further engineered to work alongside the body’s immune system, so that T cells continue to attack cancer cells alongside the bacteria that suppress tumor growth.

Lead researcher Dr Kendle Maslowski from the Cancer Research UK Scotland Institute in Glasgow and the University of Glasgow said: ‘We know that weakened Salmonella and other bacteria have the power to fight cancer, but until now it was not known why this has not been proven became. as effective as it should be.

‘Our research has discovered that the bacteria attacks the amino acid asparagine, which is essential for the activation of T cells.

‘We believe this knowledge could allow bacteria to be engineered not to attack asparagine, allowing T cells to act against tumor cells, leading to new effective treatments for cancer.’

First author, Dr. Alastair Copland, Research Fellow in Immunology at the University of Birmingham, added: ‘It is especially satisfying to turn a disease-causing insect like Salmonella into an insect that fights cancer.’

Although the use of bacteria to fight cancer has been explored by scientists since the 19th century, the health hazards of bacteria have prevented it from being explored further.

But recent developments in genetic modification to make bacteria safe for use have led to a revival of research in this field.

Research Director at Cancer Research UK, Dr Catherine Elliott, said: ‘Bacterial therapies have not yet gone mainstream, despite the huge progress we are making with immunotherapies that use our own body’s immune system to attack cancer.

‘But it has long been recognized that the power of bacteria offers significant potential to tackle disease.

‘This exciting development from the Cancer Research UK Scotland Institute could lead to more effective treatments for patients with colorectal and other cancers in the future, offering hope for patients.’