A Gut Reaction?

Immunotherapy ('unleashing the body's immune system) seems a potentially useful technique, for treating some persistent infections and even cancers. It was found that its effectiveness, when used to treat recurring Clostridium difficile infections, was improved by making a faecal transplant. Faecal transplants involve putting stool and gut bacteria, from a donor individual, into the patient's gut. Rather obviously, the material is only introduced, if it has been shown to lack harmful viruses, bacteria and fungi. Immunotherapy is also used in the treatment of melanomas, an aggressive form of skin cancer. Sadly, it only works in 30-50% of cases. Dr Diwakar Davar and colleagues (University of Pittsburgh) have found (in a small study) that faecal transplants may also improve the efficacy of immunotherapy in the treatment of some melanomas (https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/feb/04/faecal-transplants-could-help-patients-with-form-of-skin-cancer ). There seems to be a link between bacteria in the digestive system and the drug used to activate the immune system (they used pembrolizumab). Interestingly, the gut bacterial flora of the transplanted individuals, became like that of he donor.