Resumen de Colon cancer gets help from cow bacteria
type of bacterium normally found in cows can accelerate the growth of colon tumours. Cancer arises when DNA mutations prompt cells to start proliferating quickly. Sometimes there is a prime suspect - such as cigarette smoke in the case of lung cancer - but often there is no clear cause for these mutations. To find out Vi Xu of Texas A&M Health Science Center and her team fed Streptococcus gallolyticus gallolyticus (SGG) bacteria to mice predisposed to develop colon tumours. Those who were fed SGG developed around twice the volume of tumours as those given a different microbe for comparison. Human colon cancer cells in a dish also multiplied faster in the presence of SGG (PLoSPathogens, doi.org/b9ns). "Somehow it can stimulate pathways that are important in proliferation," says Xu.
