Mighty microbes: can bacteria in our lungs make cancer treatment more effective?

Meet the scientist

The team are united by their love for good cuisine. Being an international group, they frequently arrange lunches where each member brings traditional dishes from their country. Also, their enthusiasm for classic films ended up into "cineforums," often followed by enjoyable dinners.

The science

Your body is a living, thriving ecosystem of bacteria and other microbes. While some microbes can cause disease, others are essential for bodily functions - for example digestion. These different microbes co-exist in a balance, and are collectively known as the microbiome. This is a completely normal, healthy part of the body.
Research into the gut microbiome has shown that the presence of certain helpful bacteria and other microbes can be used to diagnose cancer, predict cancer outcomes and improve the effectiveness of treatments like immunotherapies. This is a new area of cancer research and is transforming the ways scientists and clinicians are approaching cancer treatment.

Until recently the lungs were considered a “sterile” organ – that is, it was assumed there were no microbes living in the lungs, as they could not be detected. With improved methods of identifying bacteria, we now know that the lungs have a rich microbiome with a variety of types of healthy bacteria. However, the relationship between this microbiome and lung cancer is still very poorly understood.

With support from our Curestarters, Dr Ambrogio and her team can now study how we could use certain microbes in our lungs as “biomarkers” – indicators of tumours that could be used to detect cancer earlier. They will also investigate beneficial bacteria that could make lung cancer treatments more effective. For example, using probiotics (that introduce healthy bacteria into the body) or antibiotics (that kill harmful bacteria) could improve the success of existing treatments. This research could lead to a new approach to lung cancer therapies, harnessing the microbes in our lungs to help fight tumours.