High-fiber diet improves response to immunotherapy in melanoma patients: Study
Hindustan TimesPatients with melanoma who reported eating more fibre-rich foods when they began immunotherapy treatment survived longer without cancer growth than patients with insufficient dietary fibre intake, according to new research from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. When the patients were further grouped according to high- or low-fibre diet and commercially-available probiotic supplement use, response to immunotherapy was seen in 18 of 22 patients who reported both sufficient fibre intake and no probiotic use, compared to the response seen in 60 of 101 patients who either reported insufficient fibre intake or probiotic use. The researchers also tested higher versus lower fibre diets and probiotic use in several preclinical melanoma models to shed light on the potential mechanisms behind the observational findings from the patient cohorts. In multiple models, probiotic use was associated with impaired response to immune checkpoint blockade, larger tumours, lower gut microbiome diversity and less cytotoxic T cells in the tumour microenvironment.
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