The diet of a person can have significant effects on the gut microbiome, i.e. the populations of microorganisms such as bacteria which live in the human gut.
It is well recognised that dietary habits through complex metabolic interactions contribute to cancer prevention.
More specifically, diets rich in fibre reduce the risk of developing specific cancers such as colorectal cancer (CRC).
Although such diets are an effective means of cancer prevention, their possible roles in cancer progression and treatment remains poorly understood.
A team of scientists from the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) and the Life Sciences Research Unit (LSRU) at the University of Luxembourg has found that a combination of prebiotics, such as dietary fibre, and probiotics, i.e. specific beneficial bacteria, reduces the expression of pro-carcinogenic and drug resistance genes.
The combination leads to metabolic changes that affect the growth of cancer cells and may help treat diseases such as CRC.
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