Modulating the gut microbiome could represent a new frontier for cancer medicine

Faecal transplants can boost the immune systems of patients with advanced cancer, improving their response to immunotherapy. Could this experimental treatment play a major role in the future?

Fecal transplant or fecal matter transplant (FMT). A laboratory tube with with fecal microbiota to cure persistent digestive diseases such as infection by Clostridium bacteria

In early 2022, the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston began enrolling patients with late-stage disease for a unique clinical trial. 

With a matter of months to live, and all other treatment options exhausted, the centre’s oncologists offered these patients a chance to see whether manipulating their gut microbiome via a faecal transplant into the colon could improve their body’s response to immunotherapy.