For decades, progress in oncology has been driven by pioneering institutions that recognize and invest in emerging fields. Through the study of tumor biology, immunology, genetics and precision medicine, we have reshaped cancer care — and it has made a lifesaving difference. Mortality rates have declined and treatments are extending not only years of life, but also quality of life.
That progress did not happen by chance; it was the result of deliberate focus on areas considered new frontiers. Today, we have another new frontier – the microbiome, an area with the potential to reshape and enhance cancer therapies — and perhaps even to prevent disease. In just a few years, the study of the microbiome has moved from the margins of cancer research toward the center of important scientific questions: Can diet or gut flora manipulation change how patients respond to therapies?
Why do some patients react differently to the same treatments? Is the microbiome — and diet — a pathway to cancer prevention and more precisely tailored care? At City of Hope, our research is helping to answer these questions.
Our investigations go back to the early 2000s, when new sequencing technologies emerged through the NIH-funded Human Microbiome Project. For the first time, we could map the bacterial communities inside the body and begin to understand how they affect response to complex procedures such as bone marrow transplantation (BMT). Today, City of Hope is leading the advancement of this field.
This includes looking for ways to improve outcomes by preserving and restoring gut health; launching new clinical trials to explore how certain diets can affect response to certain cancer treatments; and exploring precision treatments designed to complement a patient’s specific microbiome. Our work in microbiome led us to recently convene researchers, clinicians and federal health leaders for a national symposium on microbiome. The event brought together leaders from the Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health, along with leadership from cancer institutions across the nation.
The discussions made an impression. Federal leaders have described the need for a significant investment to accelerate microbiome research and translate discoveries into real patient impact more quickly — a meaningful shift from earlier federal investments, which focused primarily on foundational science. The opportunity now is to move from promise to treatment.
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