Cancer Research Lab

In a study of polypectomized and colon cancer patients, consumption of a synbiotic preparation containing one prebiotic and two probiotics significantly reduced several colorectal cancer biomarkers.

The authors of the report, in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition for February, note that prebiotics are nondigestable food ingredients that promote the growth of beneficial resident bacteria. Probiotics are living organisms thought to have a beneficial effect on health. Findings from animal studies have supported an anti-tumor effect for both types of agents, but confirmatory data from human studies is lacking.

Dr. Jan Van Loo, from ORAFTI in Tienin, Belgium, and colleagues assessed various colorectal cancer biomarkers in 37 colon cancer patients and 43 polypectomized patients who were randomized to receive a synbiotic preparation or placebo for 12 weeks.

The synbiotic preparation included the prebiotic oligofructose-enriched inulin (BeneoSynergy1, ORAFTI) and the probiotics Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG and Bifidobacterium lactis Bb12. Fecal and blood testing was performed before, during, and after treatment, and colon biopsy specimens were obtained before and after treatment.

A rise in Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus was noted in fecal specimens from the active treatment group, whereas levels of Clostridium perfringens fell.

Consumption of the synbiotic preparation was also associated with a reduction in colorectal proliferation, an improvement in epithelial barrier function, and with a drop in the DNA damaging effects of fecal water.

The synbiotic preparation had apparently beneficial effects on levels of interleukin-2 and interferon gamma, the report indicates.

“Our results offer valuable corroboration of the wealth of animal data in the field and suggest that synbiotics of the type studied in the present study may represent a feasible means of chemoprevention of colon cancer in humans,” the researchers conclude.