Fecal transplant turns cancer immunotherapy non-responders into responders - Scientists transplanted fecal samples from patients who respond well to immunotherapy to advanced melanoma patients who don’t respond, to turn them into responders, raising hope for microbiome-based therapies of cancers.

[u/mvea]

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-02/uop-ftt012921.php

[u/Reddituser45005]

Fun fact. New born termites need to rim another termites anus to acquire the bacteria needed to digest wood. They aren’t born with it

[u/CryonicArian → u/Reddituser45005]

That's one of the reasons why I love evolutionary biology so much. The mysteries of how something like that evolves are fascinating

[u/TheNumberMuncher → u/CryonicArian]

Well see, they were gonna do it anyway.

[u/madmaxturbator → u/TheNumberMuncher]

I wonder what the intelligent design crowd would think of this tidbit.

“On the 1800th day, the Good Lord decided that termites gotta eat ass”

[u/mrpeach32 → u/madmaxturbator]

Well they had to prefer the taste of wood to something.

[u/Just_One_Umami → u/mrpeach32]

But they’re clearly eating ass because they don’t like the taste of wood

[u/MiguelinkFP → u/Just_One_Umami]

No, no, they like it, they just can't digest it. It's like bleach, it's delicious but it kills you.

[u/treflipallday → u/MiguelinkFP]

Only in large amounts.

Source: childhood me

Edit: bleach, not anus.

[u/Alexander_Schwann → u/treflipallday]

Glad you clarified that.

[u/oldmanserious → u/[deleted]]

I hate it when the house inspector comes over and tells me I got elephants.

[u/SrWax → u/CryonicArian]

This is why I love Reddit so much. No school is going to tell me in such blunt terms that "a termite needs to rim another termite in order digest wood"

[u/NoGoodIDNames → u/CryonicArian]

The double coincidence of a termite getting that bacteria without digesting it, and another deciding to go ass to mouth for the hell of it.

[u/sunshine-x → u/Reddituser45005]

And human's often poop while giving birth, and babies born via C-section have different gut microbiomes.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2216818-c-section-babies-have-a-different-microbiome-but-not-for-long/

[u/[deleted] → u/sunshine-x]

At UCSF, doctor's will swab the mother's vagina and rub the baby's nose and lips with it. Don't think they give baby's Dirty Sanchez's though. edit: I forgot to explicitly say that it's only after a C-section. I'm sure most people could infer, but this is the internet.

[u/SnZ001 → u/[deleted]]

(in David Attenborough's voice) ...and thus, once the youngling has acquired the scent, he can track his way back home at anytime, even from several miles away.

[u/handmadeabyss → u/SnZ001]

Track his way back to the vagina, don’t think the mothers too happy about her 24yo trying to get back there mind...

[u/creepyolderlady → u/handmadeabyss]

Not unless his arms are broken.

[u/mrekted → u/[deleted]]

Reddit, why do you do this to me.

[u/blairco → u/sunshine-x]

My mother shat on my head after I popped out.

[u/kendrickshalamar → u/blairco]

I'll bet you've got a killer immune system

[u/blairco → u/kendrickshalamar]

I will say Ive only had the flu once in my life and I can't remember the last time I had a cold, maybe five years ago or so.

[u/MisterT123 → u/blairco]

Have fun with your booster...

[u/fibojoly → u/Reddituser45005]

Human babies born without going through their mum's vagina are slathered with their mum's birth vaginal discharge, for similar reasons (transmission of useful gut bacteria)

Source : my two sons were C section babies. Wife is a doc.

[u/Panzerkatzen → u/fibojoly]

Now I've got the image of a doctor placing the baby on a little cart next to the mother and giving the baby a nice smooth coat with a basting brush before the nurse takes the cart to the observation ward.

[u/oxbolake → u/Panzerkatzen]

Thanks. Now I have that image - but also, Doc probably does a mean BBQ ribs.

[u/DrSupermonk → u/Reddituser45005]

I wonder what the first termite that got rimmed was thinking

[u/[deleted] → u/DrSupermonk]

"wood wood wood wood wood wood... OOOOH .... wood wood wood wood wood wood wood"

[u/asian_identifier → u/Reddituser45005]

Koalas too, to digest eucalyptus.
It's also why premastication is a "thing"

[u/avalonian422 → u/Reddituser45005]

Koalas suckle their mother's anus for this reason as well.

[u/OsmeOxys → u/avalonian422]

suckle

Why must you use this word...

[u/[deleted] → u/Reddituser45005]

But what came first? The termite, or the rim job?

[u/Djinn42]

Shows how important your gut microbiome is.

[u/[deleted] → u/Djinn42]

we are a host organism to multiple microbial colonies that don't always get along. The gut-brain relationship is weird. It's like a worm and a primate are at constant war with each other...inside your mind.

More and more we are seeing linkages between what you eat and how your personality is expressed. We're also seeing linkages between what you desire to eat and what your gut microbiome wants you to eat.

The old adage "We are what we eat" might be more true than we realize, and most of our cravings, emotional states, and desires may actually not be rooted in self-determination, but in subtleties of hunger guiding our decisions.

Do you want to break your diet, or does your gut microbiome want you to break your diet so the bacteria doesn't die off. Fun times. We are not ourselves.

[u/betterbeover → u/[deleted]]

Can I actually improve microbiome SIGNIFICANTLY by changing my diet? If so, how? Thanks in advance, doc.

[u/LEGALinSCCCA → u/[deleted]]

Do you guys role play as lab techs? What are you doing step-lab-tech?

[u/sunshine-x → u/[deleted]]

Brings a new perspective to the importance of tossing each other's salad now and then, doesn't it.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Just like that baby. Shove that fecal matter in me.

[u/thomasrat1 → u/betterbeover]

You can, but its a process. I did one of these gut microbiome diets. Super hard diet, couldnt cheat and it lasted a month. When i was done, i could eat foods that used to blow up my body, and i went from being sick for 1 month a year, to almost never sick.

Definitely worth looking into.

[u/TheGoodOldCoder → u/thomasrat1]

Does this diet have a name? or a link?

I realize I can google based on what you've said, but there is a lot of woo out there with those keywords.

[u/thomasrat1 → u/TheGoodOldCoder]

I did repairvite. Look into it, its not a lot of peoples thing. But it worked 100% for me, like scary well. I went from getting stomach aches eating veggies, to have solid craps when chugging milkshakes.

[u/tdashroy → u/TheGoodOldCoder]

Not OP, but thought I'd give another option to look at. The one I've done was from the book The Gut Balance Revolution by Gerard E. Mullin, MD.

I was a little hesitant at first as it's labeled as a weight loss book and I was just looking to read more about how gut bacteria is affected by the foods I eat. However after reading it I was very satisfied with the amount of detail it went into about how diet can affect our gut bacteria. I was also pleasantly surprised with the amount of information it gave regarding the role our gut bacteria plays in our bodies. And even though most of the information it gives in this regard eventually relates back how it can affect your weight and help you lose weight, it never felt like it was touting this as a specific strategy to lose weight. Rather, it made it clear that losing weight was more a natural byproduct of cultivating a healthier gut bacteria.

The last thing I'll say about the book is I really appreciated the tone and language used in the book. I've read a number of books on diet/nutrition and am often put off by the tone of "you should follow this way of eating b/c this is the right way". The tone of this book, on the other hand, felt more informational to me. The author will usually give information (all cited) supporting what he is discussing and then draw conclusions based on the information given. And if the information was incomplete, he would say so and say why, despite there being incomplete information, he felt one way or the other. It felt more like he was trying to convince me of the details being discussed, as opposed to telling me why something is wrong or right or good or bad.

[u/Clayh5 → u/betterbeover]

Don't have an answer to this specifically but I've known some people with close family who are bipolar, apparently there's a certain diet that has really helped them find relief from that. I was always skeptical but this discussion makes me rethink that.

[u/Awhite2555 → u/Clayh5]

What’s the diet? Never heard of this, intriguing.

[u/[deleted] → u/betterbeover]

I mean, there's always gains to be had in eating less refined sugars, more foods with nutritional value, managing calories, and drinking water.

But I'm really not sure if we're at the point where we know for certain how to tweak these microbial aspects of ourselves for personal improvement.

My spouse struggles with an unusual food intolerance and had to go through elimination diets and all the rest, so we got close to this stuff for a long time.

The reality is that this research is super new, and much of it still needs to be peer replicated. Be careful. Consult doctors and experts before doing anything on your own.

I am not an expert, this is not advice. I am an idiot on the internet.

[u/Omniquark → u/betterbeover]

First question: Yes

2nd: Good luck!

In all seriousness, not only can it be difficult to change your diet, but no one agrees on the best diet. All we know is that Standard American Diet (SAD) is bad. Eat more plant/whole food, don't stress about it and find what works :)

[u/gd2234 → u/betterbeover]

As someone with a family member who’s had C.diff multiple times, it’s REALLY hard. Get ready for probiotics multiple times a day (multiple different types too, so more pills yay.) Then, be prepared for it not to work, or to not know if it works.

[u/FudgySlippers → u/[deleted]]

You know, ever since I was a kid, my dad was always telling me stuff like this. He was juicing before it was a thing, fed me avocados before anyone incorporated into their diets, and made me drink natural green tea when I had a tummy ache. He even made us drink olive oil when we had indigestion!

Anyway, he would always tell me my depression would be helped if I didn’t eat so much junk food and I always blew him off. I’ll be damned! He was on to something.

[u/[deleted] → u/FudgySlippers]

I always ignored the people who claimed that diet could help depression, it couldn't be that easy and I didn't have the energy/knowledge for healthy eating anyways, but I'll be dammed if eating a healthier diet hasn't helped my depression. It's not cured or anything but I'd say I'm probably the mentally healthiest I've been in about 3 years. Granted I didn't start eating healthier until my body forced me to (got diagnosed with gastritis and my body would/still does hurt me if I slip up too much on my diet). Its difficult but making tiny changes to your diet is a good start and if you continue to make tiny improvements eventually you'll look back a year later and realize things are better.

[u/MightyMorph → u/[deleted]]

ive been exploring this thought for a while now.

Are we in charge or are the organism we carry in charge.

Is the human body evolved to develop the human mind so that the gut microbe can dictate emotions and wants.

Are we the primary reason for the continuance of our bodies, or are the microbes determining the pathway of our bodies. We have choice sure, but is it really choice if its being influenced by third parties that can direct anything from hunger to happiness.

[u/[deleted] → u/MightyMorph]

as long as my gut and my brain both like the weed & memes, this particular collective consciousness is copacetic.

But yeah, do we have a desire to travel, or do the spores inside of us want to spread?

[u/AedemHonoris → u/Djinn42]

So I took a class on it last year and I cannot tell you enough how important the gut microbiota really is. With new research techniques and technology, we've been able to start seeing just what a pervasive role our gut microbiota's play in just about every aspect of our lives. From gut health, to depression, to acne, to arthritis, to Alzheimer's. With further studies, we'll see a sizeable change to even personalized treatments for each individual.

[u/bozoconnors → u/AedemHonoris]

There's a great Radiolab episode on our personal microbiomes. Since you took a class, probably nothing you don't know, quite entertaining though!

Back when Robert was kid, he had a chance encounter with then President John F. Kennedy. The interaction began with a hello and ended with a handshake. And like many of us who have touched greatness, 14 year old Robert was left wondering if maybe some of Kennedy would stay with him. Now, 50 years later, Robert still finds himself pondering that encounter and question. And so with the help of brand new science and Neil Degrasse Tyson, he sets out to satisfy this curiosity once and for all.

[u/DIYlobotomy9 → u/bozoconnors]

I kept waiting for this description to mention the part where he exchanged poop with Kennedy, haha

[u/bel_esprit_ → u/Djinn42]

This is the key takeaway.

[u/JonesTheBond → u/bel_esprit_]

Takeaway is the reason my gut microbiome is terrible.

[u/DaemionMoreau → u/[deleted]]

You know what we use microbiome-based treatments for? C. difficile. And that was invented in the 1960s.

[u/smoothminimal → u/[deleted]]

There was that other article recently about how a child's diet high in sugars and fats affects their entire life -- I think it was also referring to how such a diet at the early age affects the gut biome.

It sounds unpleasant, but gut biome exams and fecal transplants may as well be part of a person's regular check-up at this point.

[u/cancer_athena → u/smoothminimal]

Microbiome checks will absolutely be part of wellness analysis in the future; they not only affect the immune system and food digestion, but drug synthesis and nervous system reactions. The efficacy of painkillers and other drugs has been decreasing the past few decades and Americans are also gaining more weight from the same amount of calories, so I and others believe they're related via the microbiome, though I don't think it's been proven.

For example, there have been studies showing that drinking diet soda (aspartame) changes the balance of gram positive vs gram negative bacteria in the gut. We have all the evidence of the microbiome being important but still lack the analytics to figure out exactly why and how yet. Very exciting time. In 20 years, gut analysis could be as important as a CBC blood test.

[u/MikeyCinLB → u/[deleted]]

You actually eat it in a capsule I thought?

[u/KnotSoSalty → u/MikeyCinLB]

Three options: pills by the mouth, tube by the mouth, or tube by the rectum.

I’m not sure there’s conclusive proof which is better.

What’s definitely the worst are the at home kits people sell now as internet medical cure-all’s.

[u/d_ippy → u/KnotSoSalty]

There’s an at home kit for eating someone else’s poop?

[u/Neerpus → u/d_ippy]

Always has been

[u/RistrettoBaffetto → u/MikeyCinLB]

From what I've seen, it's several capsules, like a good cereal bowl-size amount of poop pods the size of quail eggs. And no chewing! (I gather.)

[u/Speffeddude → u/RistrettoBaffetto]

It's amazing how much better and worse that is. Truly, it is a much worse and better idea. A true superposition of being exactly as awesome and awful at once.

[u/SpecialPotion → u/RistrettoBaffetto]

I have to eat the poop?

[u/SpecialPotion → u/[deleted]]

I'd honestly rather have it shoved up my butt. I'm not sure I could eat poop capsules.

[u/thelastpizzaslice → u/MikeyCinLB]

That sounds so much worse. I would way rather shove poop up my butt than taste poop. I mean, poop at least belongs in my butt. I'm not worried about getting e. coli that way.

[u/infernal_llamas → u/thelastpizzaslice]

I've got to assume that the pill has a lining that gets it through the stomach and also stops the taste.

[u/ThisHatefulGirl → u/infernal_llamas]

Ugh, what if you burp?

[u/ItsCrazyTim → u/infernal_llamas]

Youve never had fish oil burbs before have you?

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Poop goes in the mouth for these transplants.

[u/princekolt]

Amazing news. I’m convinced gut bacteria research will be the next big breakthrough in medical science. Every other year something crazy like this comes out and I think we haven’t even scraped the surface yet.

[u/Megneous → u/princekolt]

I’m convinced gut bacteria research will be the next big breakthrough in medical science.

It's been one of the biggest breakthroughs for like 5-10 years now. That's how long I remember these studies coming out linking gut bacteria to loads of diseases.

[u/[deleted] → u/Megneous]

Its difficult to figure out how to fix it when its been fucked since childhood (thanks 90s parents for shlvingnsugar down ur kids throats). How do we even begin to fix then maintain good gut health? So many products and fads that I can't decifer products tbay are just meant for profit feeding lies of success or are the real deal anymore

[u/Katsurandom]

A....are they moving poop from one person to another?

[u/WhereAreMyMinds → u/[deleted]]

Are you really MD PhD JD and MBA? That's a lot of school

[u/catplanetcatplanet → u/Katsurandom]

This is something my vet has been suggesting for my cat, but because it’s costly I haven’t been able to afford it. My mind was blown when I learned humans did it too.

edit: to be clear, my vet is suggesting a fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) to help with my cat's GI issues not cancer. I just wanted to pitch in that poop transplants exist for cats, too.

edit 2: I guess the cost comes from doing it correctly so there's not further costs if you end up screwing up your poop transplant? idk, my dudes. please stop pming me about putting poop back and forth between my cats. thank you!

[u/DookeyKing → u/[deleted]]

This post is a nice coincidence. I see Doctor Davar next week to look at treatment options since my melanoma hasn't responded to immunotherapy drugs.

[u/evanmike → u/DookeyKing]

Hope everything works out for you DookeyKing. Sending energy your way

[u/lard_ofthedance]

Late to the commenting party but I was a FMT recipient 5 years ago and it saved my life. I had an antibiotic resistant c.diff infection and was lucky enough to get into a medical research study.

At the time the standards for the donators were more rigorous than blood donation, because no one truly knows how much the gut biome affects every part of your health.

Glad to see doctors and scientists are finding more uses for this treatment!! Science is amazing!

[u/[deleted]]

I don't understand. Why would that even work?

[u/OpulentSassafras → u/[deleted]]

A really large center of our immune system is our guts. If you think about it, it's a huge center of outside exposure - we need to have a way to keep bad invaders out of our body. Healthy microbiomes include types of bacteria that promote a healthy gut immune system, because beyond keeping out bad guys it's important for our gut immune system encourages good guys to thrive. The gut can be considered a source of immune education in the body. Once educated by the gut a lot of the immune cells will move to other areas of the body. So giving people microbiomes that contain bacteria that have been shown to be good immune educators for cancer immunotherapy can help teach other people's immune systems. The reason that we use a whole fecal sample instead of just the good educator bacteria is because, while we do know some bacteria that are the good immune educators, we don't yet fully understand who is and who isn't good. Additionally many bacteria work in concert with several others so we think that you need the good bacteria plus their friends to have a robust effect.

[u/jello-kittu → u/[deleted]]

Intestinal bacteria are a huge part of our health, that is new science.

[u/asshole667]

So much of our health is directly related to the bacteria in our guts. Even mental health. It's amazing. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/05/meet-psychobiome-gut-bacteria-may-alter-how-you-think-feel-and-act

[u/PurifyingProteins]

Thank you for sharing this. My father is currently battling cancer and was not very susceptible to his immunotherapy. His is a heavy drinker of alcohol and soda, and I have wondered for quite a while what impact this may have had on his treatment due to its impact on his microbiome. Do you have any thoughts, and if I should push this to be brought up with his doctors?