Gut Bacteria May Indicate Colon Cancer Risk

In that the human body contains more bacteria than it does cells, with these bacterial communities potentially affecting our health in either a positive way, such as to assist in metabolizing the foods we eat, or a negative way, as in promoting digestive disorders, skin diseases, and obesity.  Temitope O. Keku, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine (North Carolina, USA),and colleagues employed molecular methods to determine the different bacteria groups contained within biopsies from 45 patients undergoing colonoscopies. The team uncovered a higher bacterial diversity and richness in individuals found to have adenomas, as compared to those without these colorectal cancer precursors. In particular, a group called Proteobacteria was in higher abundance in cases than in study controls, which was interesting considering that is the category where E. coli and some other common pathogens reside. The researchers acknowledge that it remains unclear whether alterations in bacterial composition cause adenomas, or if adenomas cause this altered balance, but they do write that: “These findings reveal that alterations in bacterial community composition associated with adenomas may contribute to the etiology of colorectal cancer. Extension of these findings could lead to strategies to manipulate the microbiota to prevent colorectal adenomas and cancer as well as to identify individuals at high risk.”