Bacteria may Help Skin Cancer

Research shows salmonella, a bacterium that makes people throw up after eating contaminated food, may be an effective way to slow skin cancer growth.

Salmonella can cause several infections in humans ranging from food poisoning to typhoid fever, but researchers reporting in the European Journal of Cancer find it may also slow tumor growth in skin cancer patients. They studied mice given just radiation, or salmonella alone, or radiation in combination with salmonella to treat their skin cancer. The cancer had already metastasized in the mice before they started the treatments.

Researchers found tumor growth was delayed for two to three weeks with either treatment. However, with the combination treatment, tumor growth was delayed by 100 days. Researchers say that's pretty significant when you consider that the average life span of a mouse is two years. Early studies in humans are showing salmonella can colonize tumors, which is important when fighting cancer that has spread. They are also finding that there is a limit to how much salmonella a person can tolerate.

Researchers aren't sure why radiation and salmonella are so effective when used together but they say its possible salmonella increases the tumor's sensitivity to X-rays. Another idea is that the X-ray may make tumor cells more vulnerable to salmonella. In either case, John M. Pawelek, M.D., lead author of the study, says, at least in mice, "It prolongs survival." Researchers add salmonella may benefit other cancers as well.

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