It is believed that yogurt, which contains live strains of bacteria, protects against many types of diseases, and some reports indicate that it could reduce the risk of colorectal cancer. A new study led by researchers from the massive general Brigham finds that the consumption of yogurt over time can protect against colorectal cancer through changes in intestinal microbiome. Using studies data that have followed the participants for decades, the researchers found that the long -term consumption of two or more portions per week of yogurt was linked to lower rates of positive colorectal cancer positive for BifidobacteriumA bacterial species found in yogurt. The study showed that the bacterial species was quite common: about 30 percent of colorectal cancer patients had detectable Bifidobacterium in its tumor fabric. Its results are published in Intestinal microbes.
“Our study provides unique evidence on the potential benefit of yogurt,” said the corresponding author Shuji Ogino, MD, PHD, head of the Molecular Pathological Epidemiology Program in the Department of Pathology of the Brigham and Women Hospital, a founding member of the Mass of Mass of The Mass General Health System Brigham. Ogino is also a professor at the American Cancer Society, professor at the Harvard Thard Public Health School and Affiliated Member of Broad Institute of Mit and Harvard. “The approach of my laboratory is to try to link long -term diets and other exhibitions to a possible key difference in the tissue, such as the presence or absence of a particular kind of bacteria. To health results.”
Ogino and his colleagues-team Optistimisticc-are funded by Cancer Research UK through Cancer Grand Challenes, a research initiative co-founded by Cancer Research UK and the National Cancer Institute in the United States. Optimisticc aims to transform the understanding of how microbiome contributes to the development of the disease, progression and response to treatment. As part of this, the Ogino team aims Reduce the load of this type of cancer.
To carry out their study, researchers used two studies of prospective cohorts throughout the United States known as the Nursing Health Study (NHS) and the follow -up study of health professionals (HPFS). The studies have followed more than 100,000 registered nurses and 51,000 male health professionals, respectively. Participants have been followed since 1976 for NHS and 1986 for HFP dairy. The researchers also evaluated fabric samples for participants with confirmed cases of colorectal cancer, measuring the amount of Bifidobacterium DNA in tumor tissue.
The researchers found 3,079 documented cases of colorectal cancer in the two study populations. Information about Bifidobacterium The content was available in 1,121 colorectal cancer cases. Among them, 346 cases (31%) were Bifidobacterium-Sosititive and 775 cases (69%) were Bifidobacterium-negative. The researchers did not observe a significant association between long -term yogurt intake and the general incidence of colorectal cancer, but they did see an association in Bifidobacterium-The positive tumors, with a 20 percent lower incidence rate for participants who consumed two or more yogurt portions per week. This lower rate was driven by a lower incidence of Bifidobacterium-The positive proximal colon cancer: a type of colorectal cancer that occurs on the right side of the colon. Studies have found that proximal colon cancer patients have worse survival results than distal cancers.
“For a long time it has been believed that yogurt and other fermented dairy products are beneficial to gastrointestinal health,” said co-senior author Tomotaka Ugai, MD, PHD, of the Department of Pathology of the Brigham and the Harvard Thard Thard Thard Chan School of Public Health. “Our new findings suggest that this protective effect can be specific to Bifidobacterium-Moos positive. “
Researchers pose the hypothesis that long -term yogurt intake can reduce the risk of proximal colon cancer by changing the intestinal microbiome, including Bifidobacterium, But they point out that more research is needed that meets the basic studies of population science and health to draw a definitive conclusion.
“This document adds to the growing evidence that illustrates the connection between the diet, the intestinal microbioma and the risk of colorectal cancer,” said co -author Andrew T Chan, MD, head of the Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit at the General Hospital in the Hospital From Massachusetts, a Hospital A, to founding member of the Mass Brigham General Health System and co-leader for the team of the great challenges of cancer that addresses cancer causes in young adults. “It provides us with an additional route to investigate the specific role of these factors in the risk of colorectal cancer among young people.”