(Press-News.org) PHILADELPHIA — Analysis of the gut microbiome more successfully distinguished healthy individuals from those with precancerous adenomatous polyps and those with invasive colorectal cancer compared with assessment of clinical risk factors and fecal occult blood testing, according to data published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
"A person's gut microbiome is the collection of all the bacteria in their gut," said Patrick D. Schloss, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. "The number of bacteria in the gut is huge; it outnumbers the number of cells in our bodies 10 to one, and the diversity of the bacteria present is critical to our health. By sequencing the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene we were able to identify the bacteria present in each individual's gut microbiome.
"We found that the composition of the gut microbiome allowed us to identify who in our study had precancerous adenomatous polyps and who had invasive colorectal cancer," continued Schloss. "If our results are confirmed in larger groups of people, adding gut microbiome analysis to other fecal tests may provide an improved, noninvasive way to screen for colorectal cancer."
By analyzing stool samples from 90 individuals—30 healthy individuals, 30 patients with precancerous adenomatous polyps, and 30 patients with invasive colorectal cancer—Schloss and his colleagues established that the composition of the gut microbiome was different for individuals in the three groups.
Using this information, they identified gut microbiome signatures for each group. Adding analysis of these signatures to assessment of age and race, which are clinical risk factors for precancerous adenomatous polyps, improved prediction of the presence of precancerous adenomatous polyps 4.5-fold. Adding analysis of the gut microbiome signatures to assessment of age, race, and body mass index (BMI), which are clinical risk factors of invasive colorectal cancer, improved prediction of the presence of invasive colorectal cancer 5.4-fold.
In addition, analysis of the gut microbiome signatures was better than fecal occult blood testing at distinguishing individuals with precancerous adenomatous polyps from those with invasive colorectal cancer (AUC=0.617 and AUC=0.952, respectively). Assessing BMI, fecal occult blood test results, and gut microbiome signatures together further improved the ability to distinguish between the two conditions (AUC=0.969).
"Our data show that gut microbiome analysis has the potential to be a new tool to noninvasively screen for colorectal cancer," said Schloss. "We don't think that this would ever replace other colorectal cancer screening approaches, rather we see it as complementary.
"The study involved not just microbiologists but also researchers skilled in statistics, genomics, and epidemiology," continued Schloss. "Its success shows just how important interdisciplinary science is."
INFORMATION:
This study was supported by funds from the National Institutes of Health. Schloss declares no conflicts of interest.
Follow us: Cancer Research Catalyst http://blog.aacr.org; Twitter @AACR; and Facebook http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org
About the American Association for Cancer Research
Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world's oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR membership includes more than 34,000 laboratory, translational, and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes eight peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients, and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration, and scientific oversight of team science and individual grants in cancer research that have the potential for near-term patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer. For more information about the AACR, visit http://www.AACR.org.
Gut microbiome analysis improved noninvasive colorectal cancer screening
2014-08-07
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Acute psychological stress promotes skin healing in mice
2014-08-07
Brief, acute psychological stress promoted healing in mouse models of three different types of skin irritations, in a study led by UC San Francisco researchers.
The scientists found that healing was brought about by the anti-inflammatory effects of glucocorticoids – steroid hormones – produced by the adrenal glands in response to stress.
"Under chronic stress, these same naturally-occurring steroids damage the protective functions of normal skin and inhibit wound healing, but during shorter intervals of stress, they are beneficial for inflammatory disorders and acute ...
Pancreatic survival rates at standstill for 4 decades
2014-08-07
Long-term survival from pancreatic cancer has failed to improve in 40 years – with the outlook remaining the lowest of the 21 most common cancers, according to new figures published by Cancer Research UK today.
Today just over three per cent of pancreatic cancer patients survive for at least five years, only a fraction more than the two per cent who survived that long in the early 1970s.
Across all cancers, half of patients now survive at least twice that long. But most cases of pancreatic cancer go undetected until it is too late for surgery. And with the lack of effective ...
How critically ill infants can benefit most from human milk
2014-08-07
Human milk is infant food, but for sick, hospitalized babies, it's also medicine. That's the central premise of a series of articles in a neonatal nursing journal's special issue focused on human milk for sick newborns. The articles are being published during World Breastfeeding Week, Aug. 1-7, 2014.
Multiple public health and professional medical associations from the World Health Organization to the American Academy of Pediatrics have endorsed the widespread advantages of human milk and breastfeeding for all infants. A new issue of Advances in Neonatal Care is devoted ...
Study: Link between vitamin D and dementia risk confirmed
2014-08-06
MINNEAPOLIS – In the largest study of its kind, researchers suggests that in older people, not getting enough vitamin D may double the risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer's disease. The study is published in the August 6, 2014, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
The study looked at blood levels of vitamin D, which includes vitamin D from food, supplements and sun exposure. Dietary vitamin D is found in fatty fish such as salmon, tuna or mackerel and milk, eggs and cheese.
"We expected to find an association ...
Link between vitamin D and dementia risk confirmed
2014-08-06
Vitamin D deficiency is associated with a substantially increased risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in older people, according to the most robust study of its kind ever conducted.
An international team, led by Dr David Llewellyn at the University of Exeter Medical School, found that study participants who were severely Vitamin D deficient were more than twice as likely to develop dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
The team studied elderly Americans who took part in the Cardiovascular Health Study. They discovered that adults in the study who were moderately deficient ...
Aggressive outreach increases organ donation among Hispanic Americans
2014-08-06
Bottom Line: An outreach campaign that included local media and culturally sensitive educational programs in targeted neighborhoods was associated with an increase in consent rates for organ donation among Hispanic Americans in the Los Angeles area.
Author: Ali Salim, M.D., of Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, and colleagues.
Background: Nearly 20 people die each day waiting for an organ transplant. The organ shortage affects all ethnic groups but is more pronounced in minority populations.
How the Study Was Conducted: The authors examined an aggressive outreach ...
History of fire and drought shapes the ecology of California, past and future
2014-08-06
Fire season has arrived in California with vengeance in this third year of extended drought for the state. A series of large fires east of Redding and Fresno, in Yosemite, and on the Oregon border prompted Gov. Jerry Brown to declare a state of emergency on Sunday, August 3rd.
As force of destruction and renewal, fire has a long and intimate history with the ecology of California. Ecological scientists will discuss aspects of that history in detail at the upcoming 99th Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America on August 10 – 15th, 2014.
"Big fires today are ...
Galápagos hawks hand down lice like family heirlooms
2014-08-06
Say what you will about the parasitic lifestyle, but in the evolution of life on Earth, it's a winner.
Given that about half of all known species are parasites, biologists have long hypothesized that the strategy of leeching off other organisms is a major driver of biodiversity. Studying populations of Galápagos hawks (Buteo galapagoensis) and feather lice that live in their plumage (Degeeriella regalis), a group led by University of Arizona ecologists and evolutionary biologists has gathered some of the first field evidence suggesting that a phenomenon called co-divergence ...
NASA's Hubble finds supernova star system linked to potential 'zombie star'
2014-08-06
Using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, a team of astronomers has spotted a star system that could have left behind a "zombie star" after an unusually weak supernova explosion.
A supernova typically obliterates the exploding white dwarf, or dying star. On this occasion, scientists believe this faint supernova may have left behind a surviving portion of the dwarf star -- a sort of zombie star.
While examining Hubble images taken years before the stellar explosion, astronomers identified a blue companion star feeding energy to a white dwarf, a process that ignited a nuclear ...
New research links tornado strength, frequency to climate change
2014-08-06
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — New research by a Florida State University geography professor shows that climate change may be playing a key role in the strength and frequency of tornadoes hitting the United States.
Published Wednesday in the journal Climate Dynamics, Professor James Elsner writes that though tornadoes are forming fewer days per year, they are forming at a greater density and strength than ever before. So, for example, instead of one or two forming on a given day in an area, there might be three or four occurring.
"We may be less threatened by tornadoes on a ...