FIGHTING CANCER
Israelis Scientists Identify New Culprit Behind
Cancerous Growths: Tumor-Specifi c Bacteria
FI GHTING CANCER
LARRY LUXNER | JTA.ORG
REHOVOT, ISRAEL —
Despite their reputation, most
bacteria are harmless. Many
are vital to human life.
Others, however, cause
infections that lead to fatal
diseases ranging from tuber-
culosis to bubonic plague.
Add cancer to that list, at
least indirectly. According to
new research led by Dr. Ravid
Straussman of the Weizmann
Institute of Science in Rehovot,
bacteria living inside cancer
cells are likely to have a profound
eff ect on how diff erent types of
tumors behave.
“Most bacteria you fi nd
in tumors are known to be
present in normal people,
but there’s also a minority
of bacteria that were never
described in humans or any
other host before,” Straussman
said. “Some of these bacteria
don’t even have names.”
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26 OCTOBER 8, 2020
types. Interestingly, he discov-
ered that about 70% of breast
cancer patients have bacteria in
their tumors.
“Some of these bacteria could
be enhancing the anti-cancer
immune response, while others
could be suppressing it,” said
Dr. Mark Israel, executive
director of the Israel Cancer
Overall, this research will change the
diagnosis, management and prognosis of
human cancer.”
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While bacteria were fi rst
detected in human tumors
more than 100 years ago,
Straussman reported in a
paper in the May 29 issue of
Science that he found bacteria
live inside the cells of many
cancer types, and that each
type of cancer houses unique
populations of bacteria.
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Breast cancer, which has a
relatively high incidence among
Jewish women, has a particularly
rich and diverse microbiome.
“Overall, this research will
change the diagnosis, manage-
ment and prognosis of human
cancer starting now and for
many years to come,” said Daniel
Douek, a senior investigator in
the human immunology division
of the National Institutes of
Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
Straussman began his
research into bacteria nearly 10
years ago aft er wondering why
cancer cells in patients don’t
consistently respond to drugs
the way they do in the lab.
“People think of tumors
as a mass of cells that grows
uncontrollably,” Straussman
said in a recent interview at
his 15-person laboratory at
Weizmann’s Department of
Molecular Cell Biology. “Th e
truth is that tumors are just
like any other organ.”
In Straussman’s most recent
project, he and his team took
tumor samples from 1,526
patients with seven cancer
types — breast, lung, ovarian,
pancreatic, melanoma, bone
and brain — and found diff erent
assortments of bacteria that
correlated with specifi c tumor
Research Fund, or ICRF. “Th is
is important because speci-
fi city in biology means that
those bacteria are playing some
biologic role. In other words, if
there wasn’t a reason for those
bacteria to persist, the body
would reject them.”
Since 2016, ICRF has been
funding Straussman’s work
with grant funding exceeding
$300,000. Th e organization,
which raises millions of dollars
in North America for cancer
research, supports scientifi c
investigations at more than 20
institutions across Israel.
“The unique finding of
Straussman’s paper is that the
collections of bacteria within
tumor cells vary from tumor
type to tumor type,” Israel
said. “Th ey must be providing
some sort of advantage to the
tumor cells, or doing something
that contributes to the tumor’s
behavior. Th erefore, there’s a lot
of interest in getting rid of them,
and hopefully having a thera-
peutic eff ect.”
Straussman said his latest
study may also shed light on
why some bacteria are drawn
to certain cancer cells and why
each cancer has its own typical
microbiome. Tumors
are complex
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Dr. Naama Geva-Zatorsky of the Technion Integrated Cancer Center in Haifa is among a growing number of
cancer researchers studying bacteria that live in the gut microbiome.
Courtesy of the Technion via JTA.org
ecosystems that are known to
contain immune cells, stromal
cells, blood vessels, nerves and
many more components in
addition to cancer cells. Th ey’re
all part of what’s known as the
tumor microenvironment.
“Our studies, as well as
studies by other labs, clearly
demonstrate that bacteria are
also an integral part of the
tumor microenvironment,”
Straussman said. “We hope
that by fi nding out how exactly
they fi t into the general tumor
ecology, we can fi gure out novel
ways of treating cancer.”
Supervising a 10-person lab,
she has tested at least 60 types
of bacteria that thrive in the
human gastrointestinal tract.
Geva-Zatorsky hopes to learn
whether the immune eff ects of
gut bacteria can be used either
to prevent cancer from forming
or to increase the effi cacy of
cancer treatments.
“We believe we can induce
an environment where cancer
cannot develop,” she said.
“Maybe in the future bacteria
that stimulate the immune
system can be added to immune
therapy, so that the cancer can
be eradicated more quickly and
effi ciently.”
Her work, too, is being
funded by the Israel Cancer
Research Fund.
“We’ve known for centuries
that the bacteria in your gut
play important roles, but in the
last three to fi ve years it’s been
discovered that a collection of
bacteria infl uences your immune
response,” Israel said. “Th at’s
important now because of the
major new modalities of treatment
that modify the immune system
to fi ght off the tumor.” ●
This article was sponsored by and
produced in partnership with the
Israel Cancer Research Fund.
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Dr. Ravid Straussman of the Weizmann Institute of Science found that bacteria living inside cancer cells are likely
to have a profound eff ect on how diff erent types of tumors behave.
Photo by Larry Luxner via JTA.org
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