AndyPR
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Cancer immunotherapy - treatments that harness the body's immune system to fight cancer - has been gaining traction in recent years as a new approach to treating the disease.
But one of its major drawbacks is its variability: for some cancer patients, the drugs have led to remarkable remissions with few side effects. Others have tried them only to find little benefit and a lot of discomfort.
It's something researchers have been trying to understand, exploring whether there are other drugs that could be used to boost the response in some people, or if genetics could be playing an underlying role in making it more effective in others.
And they may finally be onto something.
A team of researchers has recently discovered a link between people's responses to immunotherapy treatments and the microbes that live in their gut.
http://www.sciencealert.com/there-m...of-cancer-treatment-response-and-gut-bacteria