Worms and flies show that bacteria may help fight cancer

Researchers in Germany and the UK have discovered a compound produced by bacteria that may reduce colorectal cancer growth and enhance chemotherapy response, in a study using worms and fruit flies. 

Researchers from the University of Cologne, Germany, and Imperial College London, UK, used C. elegans, a transparent worm of about one millimeter in length widely used in biology research, to screen how diet and microbes influence the response to a commonly used chemotherapy drug.  

From this screening, which tested 378 dietary compounds, they found that 2-methylisocitrate, which is also produced in humans by cancer-associated bacteria, could improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy.  

By administering this metabolite in 2D and 3D cancer cell lines and in fruit flies with gut cancer, the researchers saw that the compound decreased the proliferation of the tumour cells and improved the survival of the flies. Then, using synthetic chemistry techniques, the researchers altered the structure of the compound successfully increasing its anti-cancer effect. 

This study, published in Cell Systems, lays the groundwork for further studies to evaluate the potential of this compound in mammals, to inform possible clinical application of these findings.