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Gut microbes linked to fatty diet drive tumour growth


Scientists know there is a link between obesity and some cancers. A study in mice and people suggests why that might be.

The study, published on 6 May in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 1, found that a high-fat diet increased the number of Desulfovibrio bacteria in the guts of mice, suppressing their immune systems and accelerating tumour growth. Erwei Song, a breast-cancer surgeon at the SunYat-Sen Memorial Hospital in Guangzhou, China, and colleagues investigated the gut bacteria of people with breast cancer after collecting data showing that those with a high body-mass index had reduced chances of survival. Katherine Loree Cook, a cancer biologist focused on microbiome research at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, agrees, saying the study provides “strong evidence” of a new signalling mechanism involving gut bacteria.

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Gut microbes

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tumour growth