DuPont N&B partners in microbiome research to decrease chemotherapy side effects

24 Jul 2020 --- A two-year partnership between DuPont Nutrition & Biosciences (N&B) and US-based Rutgers University is set to research regulating gut bacteria and decreasing chemotherapy side effects. The microbiome plays an essential role in the oral ingestion of oncology drugs that can cause inflammation of the digestive tract. Regulating beneficial microbes in the gut could, therefore, lead to improving patient care and comfort for those undergoing cancer treatment, the university highlights.

“Over the past years, it was shown that taking medicines impacts the gut microbiota and that the gut microbiota itself impacts the efficacy of drugs. Chemotherapy is not different and we strongly believe there is a high unmet medical need in that space,” Dr. Sébastien Guéry, Human Microbiome Venture (HMV) leader, DuPont Nutrition & Biosciences, tells NutritionInsight.

Dr. Martin Blaser, the Director of the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine (CABM) at Rutgers University, underscores that the “important frontier” of microbiome interaction with cancer already has important leads.

Recent studies demonstrate that the microbiome plays an important role in gut inflammation and that oral intake of oncology drugs can induce enterocolitis. As such, the administration of beneficial microbes may lead to improving overall patient care and comfort while undergoing cancer treatment.

The research collaboration will investigate how the microbiome can help decrease side effects of chemotherapy.The company looks forward to combining the science of Dr. Blaser’s team with its broad portfolio of microbes to further advance the understanding of the intake of beneficial microbes on human health.

The DuPont HMV, part of N&B, was launched in 2017 to spearhead the development of next-generation microbiome solutions for improved health and wellness. At the forefront of biotechnology innovation, HMV is designed to accelerate product development to complement its existing portfolio and build on DuPont’s strong expertise in prebiotics, microbes, proteins and enzymes use for human health.

In the same year, DuPont N&B already began its cancer-microbiome research investigations with the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. Their collaboration revealed “breakthrough results,” demonstrating that probiotic intervention can positively alter and modify intestinal microbiota in patients with colon cancer.

Building on existing findings
As part of its World Cancer Day coverage, NutritionInsight previously noted how nutrition can have a notable impact on cancer – and vice versa. Coming on the heels of this commemoration, a collaboration of over 1,300 scientists and clinicians from 37 countries investigated 99 percent of the cancer genome that codes for proteins, including key regions that control switching genes on and off. They uncovered an “unprecedented” amount of new insights into the disease, including the causes of previously unexplained cancers, as well as pinpointing cancer-causing events. 

Last month, a study from the University of Virginia found that microbes can change cancer patients’ responses to chemotherapy drugs in the gut. The researchers note that this discovery opens an important new avenue of medical research and could have major implications for predicting the right dose and better controlling the side effects of chemotherapy. 

By Anni Schleicher