Belly buster. E. coli can ruin a vacation, but it can prove to be an ally in the fight against colon cancer.
You probably never thought any good could come of diarrhea. The bane of travelers and danger to very young children, sick and elderly, a bacterial infection that causes severe diarrhea helps protect against colon cancer, according to a new study. Toxins created by Escherichia coli bacteria keep tumors in check by the growth of colon cells slow down and perhaps one day help doctors treat colon cancer.
People in developing countries are much less likely to develop colon cancer than are people in industrialized countries like the United States, where colon cancer is the second cause of death cancer. According to clinical pharmacologist Scott Waldman and Giovanni Pitari of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, the explanation lies in a previously unknown side effect of E. coli infection - which is a constant danger to the health in many countries in development. The bacteria create a toxin that locks on colon cells lining the intestine, which disrupts the body control of intestinal fluids, and causing severe diarrhea. But the toxin also prevents the development of the tumor, and Waldman Pitari report online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences .
Waldman and Pitari in collaboration with André Terzic clinical pharmacologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, followed by colon cancer cells of the human they had treated with E. coli toxin . The toxin triggered a biochemical cascade, ultimately opening a channel in the cells. This let flood of calcium into the cells, which, for reasons researchers do not yet understand, slowed the growth of cancer cells from 50% to 60%. This is the first time a bacterial toxin has been shown to inhibit the growth of cancer, said Waldman.
The toxin can be a promising cancer treatment, said oncologist Ferid Murad of the University of Texas, Houston, calling the work of a "significant contribution." And because the particular toxin houses on colon cells, Waldman added, it should be effective against colon tumors that have metastasized and spread to other parts of the body.
Related Sites
For more information on colorectal cancer
the site of Ferid Murad
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