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A common bacteria 鈥榠s cutting cancer survival鈥
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A COMMON bacteria is cutting the five-year survival rate of colorectal cancer patients, local scientists have discovered.
Fusobacterium nucleatum is an oral bacterium that plays a role in periodontal disease. It is seldom found in intestinal tract.
Specialists from Renji Hospital found the bacteria can induce colorectal cancer cells’ autophagy and develop drug-resistance to chemotherapy medications, causing relapse and impacting patients’ survival.
The discovery was published by world-leading journal Cell, the hospital said over the weekend.
The discovery is meaningful for forecasting patients’ treatment effects through analyzing their intestinal bacteria and can give guidance for doctors to choose more appropriate chemotherapy.
It also offers a new target for future drug development, said doctor Fang Jingyuan, chief researcher of the project. Previous research found fusobacterium nucleatum flourishes in colorectal cancer cells while not determining the exact reasons.
Fang’s team conducted DNA testing comparing patients with relapse and without relapse. They found those in relapse have a much higher level of fusobacterium nucleatum in their intestinal cavity.
“We will do further research to study how to improve colorectal cancer treatment effects through controlling or eliminating fusobacerium nucleatum to reverse patients’ drug-resistance,” Fang said.
“It is a new thought.”
Colorectal cancer is one of the most common in China and about a quarter of new cases and 22 percent of deaths are due to the cancer annually.
Both the incidence and the mortality are rising along with the aging population and unhealthy lifestyles. In Shanghai, the incidence of colorectal cancer is rising 4.2 percent annually and has gone from the seventh major cancer in 1970s to be second only after lung cancer.
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