The toxin colibactin, which is produced by some strains of E. coli and other bacteria, may play a role in the story. Researchers found a striking correlation between this toxin that damages DNA and colon cancer in younger people.
How a DNA-damaging toxin is produced
The study offers a fresh insight into the growth in young people’s colorectal cancer cases. It is believed by scientists that this sharp increase is caused by a combination of environmental variables, such as medication, sedentary lifestyle, and food.
These might be affecting the bacteria like E. coli that live in our stomachs.
During the very early stages of development, the most common form of bacteria in your gut is actually the family of germs to which E. coli belongs.
According to research on animals, exposure to colibactin can promote the development of cancer.
Whose lab has led related research, “between 20% and 30% of people have strains of E. coli that can produce this toxin, but it doesn’t indicate it’s necessarily having “deleterious effects.”
Put differently, it’s not a novel infectious agent that merely has to be eradicated.
Complicating matters, not all patients with colorectal cancer have these colibactin-related mutation signatures.
For instance, E. coli can really be rendered incapable of causing cancer in animals if the genetic area that produces this toxin is deleted. The growth of tumors can be influenced by the amount of fiber they are fed. Additionally, these colibactin lab experiments show that reducing inflammation helps prevent cancer.
Nutrition and the Usage of Antibiotics may be Related
Alexandrov explained that because they sequenced the genomes of cancer patients worldwide, the researchers were able to determine that these colibactin-related mutations are more common in the United States and Western Europe but are actually relatively uncommon in more “rural, non-industrialized” parts of Africa and Asia.
These findings, along with the evidence that it is a consequence of exposure during early development, give them some ideas about what might be going on.
He explained that nursing, the use of antibiotics, the style of birth (vaginal vs. cesarean), and nutrition—for instance, whether or not children were fed highly processed foods—are some of their main suspicions.
“All of these factors are known to substantially affect the microbiome and there is some evidence they may impact this [colibactin producing] bacteria, but we really need to investigate each one carefully.”
All of these, especially antibiotics, seem reasonable to Dey because previous research teams have connected early antibiotic usage to a higher risk of colorectal cancer in later life.
