{"id":1795,"date":"2026-06-05T11:35:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T11:35:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=1795"},"modified":"2026-06-05T11:35:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T11:35:16","slug":"a-healthier-gut-may-be-key-to-cancer-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=1795","title":{"rendered":"A healthier gut may be key to cancer care"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

\nEDITOR\u2019S NOTE:<\/span>\u00a0 This story was reported in collaboration with the Global Health Reporting Center with support from the Pulitzer Center.\n<\/p>

Read more Trump\u2019s pick to lead US intel community did not have a security clearance before he was tapped for the job, sources say<\/a><\/p>\n

\n As a budding specialist in bloodborne cancers like leukemia, Dr. Marcel van den Brink learned how to perform one of the most delicate high-wire acts in medicine: Starting in the early 1990s, many of his seriously ill patients had sophisticated procedures to rebuild, or reinstall, a new immune system.\n <\/p>\n

\n In this procedure \u2013 called an allogenic hematopoietic cell transplant \u2013 the patient\u2019s immune system is virtually wiped out with potent chemotherapy, clearing the way for cells transplanted from a donor to replace it. Until that replacement takes root, the patient is exquisitely vulnerable.\n <\/p>\n

\n Transplant patients were kept in figurative and sometimes literal bubbles, spending months at a time in suites with carefully controlled airflow to guard against microorganisms. \u201cNurses and family would deal with patients through gloves that stuck through the plastic,\u201d van den Brink recalled.\n <\/p>\n

\n To maintain a germ-free state until the new immune system took over, patients were also blasted with high doses of broad-spectrum antibiotics. But despite all precautions, in the 1990s, about a quarter of all patients died from infections and other complications, including graft-versus-host disease, in which transplanted immune cells attack the body\u2019s own tissue.\n <\/p>\n

\n Van den Brink says he and his colleagues in the field came to recognize that some of this was self-inflicted. \u201cWe were causing a lot of collateral damage with our aggressive treatment,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n

\n That dawning recognition helped launch a field of cancer research: the connection between microbes in our gut and our immune systems.\n <\/p>\n

\n The focus was highlighted just last month, when US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. went to California for a research symposium at the City of Hope Cancer Center in Duarte, where van den Brink was named president in 2023. Speaking to the group, US National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya called recent research findings \u201cmind-blowing.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n The symposium\u2019s title was grand, dubbing the microbiome \u201cthe next frontier of cancer prevention and care.\u201d In fact, a recent publication by the American Society of Clinical Oncology lists nearly 100 recent or ongoing studies testing various ways to manipulate what\u2019s known as the gut microbiome to help treat cancer.\n <\/p>\n

\n
\n\n
\n
\"US<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\nUS Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., left, tours City of Hope’s microbiome lab with Dr. Marcel van den Brink and Dr. Robert Jenq, right, on May 13 in Duarte, California.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Jordan Strauss\/AP\/Content Services for City of Hope<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n The microbiome appears to be especially critical when it comes to immunotherapy, which relies on medications that manipulate the body\u2019s own immune system in order to better attack cancer.\n <\/p>\n

\n In the coming days, a kidney cancer patient at University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center in Cleveland will become the first participant in the first late-phase trial testing probiotics as a way to amplify cancer treatment. The multicenter study is testing CBM588, a strain of bacteria called Clostridium butyricum. <\/em>CBM588 is already a popular dietary supplement in Japan, where it\u2019s sold over the counter to deal with gastrointestinal complaints.\n<\/p>\n

\n Over the next few years, nearly 700 people who have advanced renal cell carcinoma will swallow capsules of CBM588along with their regular immunotherapy treatments. Dr. Pedro Barata, one of three principal investigators on the study, isn\u2019t shy about its ambition when he says, \u201cWe\u2019re hoping to change the standard of care.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n The study, which is funded by the National Cancer Institute, follows a handful of small studies involving kidney or lung cancer, including one at City of Hope Cancer Center in Los Angeles that found that CBM588 improved outcomes in people with renal cell carcinoma who received immune-based treatment.\n <\/p>\n

\n Inspiration from chickens\n<\/h2>\n

\n Dr. Sumanta Pal, who led the City of Hope research and is a co-investigator on the new trial, says his interest in the microbiome was launched over a decade ago. That\u2019s when he started talking with Dr. Paul Frankel, a biostatistician at City of Hope who shared that poultry operations and other livestock producers saw a correlation between gut bacteria and the health of their animals.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIf their chickens are [healthy and growing well], they\u2019ll limit how often they clean the litter when they put in new chickens,\u201d Frankel explained. What\u2019s more, he says, many animals are given probiotics or prebiotics in order to keep their microbiota flourishing. Pigs, for example, are fed inulin. \u201cIt\u2019s basically a fiber product that is a prebiotic, and they use that to boost the Bifidobacteria. They knew exactly what they were doing.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Commercial agriculture operations don\u2019t often publish research on these practices. But expanded use of probiotics and prebiotics coincided with new federal rules to limit unchecked use of antibiotics, changes meant to reduce overuse and slow the development of drug-resistant bacteria.\n <\/p>\n

\n Cancer researchers have developed a similar appreciation for the outsize role played by antibiotics in shaping the bacteria that live inside us. \u201cPeople are a lot more focused on antibiotic stewardship now,\u201d Pal said. \u201cWe would never discourage someone from using antibiotics where they\u2019re indicated, but I think we use more discretion. We\u2019ve gotten [doctors] to ask, \u2018Gosh, is this really the right thing for my patient, in this particular situation?\u2019\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n
\n\n
\n
\"Dr.<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\nDr. Sumanta Pal says he became interested in the potential of the microbiome after learning how poultry operators had seen a correlation between gut bacteria and the health of their animals.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
City of Hope<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n Dr. Arielle Elkrief, co-director of the CHUM Microbiome Centre at the Montreal Cancer Institute, says it\u2019s important to follow the adage of \u201cfirst, do no harm.\u201d That\u2019s driven not just by concern over drug-resistance but by studies that find that heavy antibiotic use is independently associated with poor outcomes.\n <\/p>\n

\n At the CHUM Microbiome Centre, patients aren\u2019t given antibiotics unless a bacterial infection is confirmed, except in rare cases. Doctors tailor treatment to the specific infection rather than leaning on broad-spectrum antibiotics that also wipe out beneficial species as collateral damage. According to Elkrief, after an intensive educational campaign was launched in 2019, the proportion of lung cancer patients receiving antibiotics in the 30 days prior to starting immunotherapy fell from 20% to 5%.\n <\/p>\n

\n Many leading cancer centers have developed a similarly cautious approach to antibiotics. That includes City of Hope.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWhat we\u2019ve found both in mouse and man is that the less damage you do to [beneficial] bacteria, the better off you are. You have better outcomes,\u201d van den Brink said.\n <\/p>\n

\n In his own realm of bone marrow transplants, van den Brink and colleagues analyzed fecal samples from more than 1,300 people who got cells from donors. They found that dysbiosis \u2013 an imbalance in which the gut microbiome has fewer beneficial species \u2013 was directly linked to likelihood of death. Van den Brink says dysbiosis is also tied to lower survival rates in patients who receive transplants of their own hematopoetic cells\ufeff. In that procedure, healthy cells are collected and frozen prior to chemotherapy and radiation treatment, then infused afterward.\n <\/p>\n

\n The reasons for these results are complex and still being teased out. \u201cThere are a lot of open questions,\u201d Elkrief said.\n <\/p>\n

\n In some cases, the loss of beneficial bacteria allows harmful species to run rampant. A healthy human gut contains a few hundred strains; van den Brink has documented extreme cases in which everything in a patient\u2019s digestive tract was wiped out except for a single species.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt\u2019s crazy,\u201d he said. \u201cYou go from having an Amazon rainforest, with 300 or 400 different bacteria living in a finely developed ecosystem, and you go to having a single bug. I mean, my God!\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Other research links dysbiosis with inflammation, which can lead to diarrhea and other problems, including leakage of dangerous bacteria from the gut to infect the bloodstream and other parts of the body.\n <\/p>\n

\n Food and immunity\n<\/h2>\n

\n The role of food is another area of intense focus. A seminal 2021 paper by researchers at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center showed that patients eating a high-fiber diet responded better to treatment for melanoma: For every 5-gram increase in fiber intake, the risk of cancer progression or death fell 30%.\n <\/p>\n

\n Other studies have followed, and there appears to be a strong connection between gut bacteria and the immune system. The surface area of the human intestine is about 20 times larger than the area covered by our skin. According to van den Brink, this vast landscape holds about a third of all the body\u2019s T-cells and B-cells \u2013 crucial immune cells. And because they are immersed in a thick sea of bacteria, the gut is a proving ground where the immune system learns to fight invaders and abnormal cells like those found in tumors. This requires a healthy balance of bacteria.\n <\/p>

Read more Trump administration escalates legal push for medical records of trans minors<\/a><\/p>\n

\n The challenge, van den Brink explains, is learning how to preserve that balance in desperately sick patients with fragile immune systems, who may need antibiotics to fight life-threatening infections.\n <\/p>\n

\n For most of van den Brink\u2019s career, precautions included warning hematopoietic cell transplant recipients to avoid fresh fruits and vegetables, out of concern that they might be exposed to trace contaminants. In the first weeks after transplant, many patients have trouble eating and are often encouraged by doctors to rely on high-calorie nutrition with a lot of simple sugars.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cFor 20 years, I went around telling them, \u2018oh, just have an energy drink,\u2019\u201d van den Brink said. \u201cBut it turns out, that\u2019s really bad!\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n The problem, he and others discovered, is that a sugar-heavy, unvaried diet is rocket fuel for harmful species of bacteria.\n <\/p>\n

\n
\n\n
\n
\"Kimberly<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\nKimberly Shipman, center, says the nutrition options at City of Hope were “very, very good.”<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Kimberly Shipman<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n In recent years, City of Hope developed a very different menu. On a recent Tuesday, 60-year-old Kimberly Shipman, recuperating from a transplant to treat acute lymphocitic leukemia, savored an organic beet salad topped with chicken. \u201cI\u2019ve been eating like crazy, and the food has been very, very good here,\u201d she said from her hospital bed four weeks after the procedure. \u201cThis salad is my favorite, but the soups are great, and they have a special every day.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Per hospital policy, new patients meet with a nutritionist within three days of admission. Inpatients choose from a menu of fresh options, and Adern Yu, the director of clinical nutrition services at City of Hope, says patients are urged to eat \u201creal\u201d food as soon as they\u2019re able. She explained, \u201cThese people are immunocompromised, so we still don\u2019t recommend things like sprouts or blue cheese or sushi,\u201d which are more prone to contamination. \u201cBut we tell them fruits and vegetables are fine, as long as you wash them.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\nStudies already show that eating healthy food, particularly a high-fiber diet, actually improves the response to immunotherapy and is associated with better outcomes.\n <\/p>\n

\n Dr. Robert Jenq, director of the Microbiome Program at City of Hope, was at MD Anderson when the seminal paper on fiber was published by researchers there. He says certain gut bacteria metabolize fiber into short-chain fatty acids. While the exact mechanism is unclear, these fatty acids seem to improve the survival and function of T-cells. They \u201calso prevent harmful bacteria, function as nutrition for the lining of the colon and seem to suppress inflammation,\u201d Jenq said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Dr. Jenny Paredes, a microbiologist in the van den Brink lab, is launching a trial in which she\u2019ll provide dietary coaching and high-fiber meals, as well as tracking every bite that hematopoietic cell transplant recipients eat during the 40 days they typically stay in the hospital and an additional 60 days at home, when they\u2019re still at high risk for graft-versus-host disease and other complications.\n <\/p>\n

\n Paredes says the goal is to better understand what\u2019s needed to prevent dysbiosis and, ultimately, guide treatment. \u201cCan I foresee how this patient will react to the food we\u2019re providing in the hospital? Can I foresee what it does to their microbiome and metabolism?\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n
\n\n
\n
\"Dr.<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\nDr. Jenny Paredes is launching a trial that will track what hematopoietic cell transplant recipients eat during a period when they\u2019re at high risk for complications.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
City of Hope<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n But that ambition faces steep hurdles, first and foremost the dizzying complexity of our microbial landscape. Not only are there several hundred common species of bacteria in the gut, there are viruses and phages, as well. What\u2019s more, says Dr. Armin Rashidi, a hematologist and associate professor at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, \u201ceven if you understand what each microbe does and how any two of them interact with each other, you still can\u2019t predict what will happen if you put three of them together \u2013 let alone if you put a million of them together.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Multiplying the puzzle: Bacteria behave differently and produce different metabolites depending on which other bacteria are present, on the condition of the gut and other factors, even the time of day. \u201cThe complexity problem is humbling,\u201d said Frankel, the biostatistician. \u201cThe comforting thing is that we\u2019ve been remarkably good at making progress without complete knowledge.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Getting a boost from No. 2\n<\/h2>\n

\n If there\u2019s an approach that embodies both the complexity and the relatively primitive state of knowledge, it\u2019s the use of fecal microbiota transplants. This involves taking purified feces from either a healthy person or from a patient who has successfully responded to immunotherapy, and giving the mixture \u2013 often in the form of a pill \u2013 to a new patient.\n <\/p>\n

\n Rashidi is analyzing data from a study in which patients undergoing hematopoietic cell transplants were first primed with fecal microbiota transplants. A company in Minnesota gathered stools from healthy donors, which were then screened for dangerous pathogens and genes associated with antibiotic resistance. That material was filtered into a concentrated and purified form and put into capsules. A total of 157 patients received either this microbial mix or a placebo.\n <\/p>\n

\n In an earlier study, Rashidi\u2019s team found that transplants did correct dysbiosis but didn\u2019t change the risk of infection. \u201cAs much as I love the fact that [fecal transplant] works in fixing the microbiome, I\u2019m kind of bothered by the fact that I don\u2019t understand how this happens,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Less sophisticated fecal transplants were reported as far back as fourth-century China. Increasingly over the past decade, they\u2019ve been used to treat severe, life-threatening inflammation of the colon. A common cause of this trouble is an infection with C. difficilebacteria, which can overrun the colon if antibiotics wipe out competing species.\n <\/p>\n

\n In the past few years alone, at least 40 cancer trials have been launched, testing versions of fecal microbiota transplants. \u201cWe know patients who develop toxicities related to immunotherapy have a distinct microbiome composition compared to patients who don\u2019t,\u201d Elkrief said. \u201cThe thought is, if we can replace their microbiome with the microbiome of something resembling a healthy donor, we could potentially heal the source of the problem and hopefully get them back on their immunotherapy.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n
\n\n
\n
\"Increasingly<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\nIncreasingly over the past decade, fecal microbiota transplants — often in the form of pills — have been used to treat severe, life-threatening inflammation of the colon.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Amanda Kabage<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n The work includes some striking success. When they combined immunotherapy with fecal transplants derived from healthy volunteers, Elkrief and her colleagues at the CHUM Microbiome Centre doubled the number of people with lung cancer who responded to treatment and had similar results against melanoma. The study was published in the journal Nature Medicine. <\/em>\n<\/p>\n

\n The use of healthy donors helps sidestep a potentially severe limitation on fecal transplants. Other prominent trials have found impressive benefits, but only when using material from a single \u201csuper-donor\u201d: a cancer survivor who previously showed a strong response to treatment. Aside from the obvious challenge of scaling that up, there are examples in which specific adverse events were linked to specific bacteria derived from a single donor.\n <\/p>\n

\n Along with academic research, several commercial entities are developing or refining versions of fecal transplants. The first product to receive US Food and Drug Administration approval was Ferring Pharma\u2019s Rebyota, which is designed to treat C. diff infection. Seres Pharmaceuticals (in which van den Brink has a financial stake) has received an FDA fast-track designation to develop a product meant to reduce infections and graft-versus-host disease in patients undergoing hematopoietic cell transplants.\n <\/p>\n

\n At a third company, Kanvas Biosciences, the two most advanced products are both what CEO and co-founder Dr. Matthew Cheng describes as \u201csynthetic fecal transplants,\u201d but with stark differences. One mirrors a fecal sample from a \u201csuper-donor,\u201d a former patient at MD Anderson whose advanced cancer was completely reversed by immunotherapy; the second uses a mix modeled on what was found in healthy donors who never had cancer. The first product includes 145 species of bacteria, the second \u201caround 50,\u201d according to Cheng. Remarkably, he said, \u201cthere isn\u2019t a single strain that overlaps both products.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Pal argues that fecal transplantation is less a long-term solution than a means of helping clinicians understand which aspects of the microbiome are most valuable. \u201cWhat we really need to learn is what specific element is it, in the composition of the [fecal transplant], that\u2019s driving the response.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n The late-phase probiotic study that he\u2019s helping lead is a simpler approach, using a single ingredient. Other single-ingredient interventions seeking to recruit the microbiome to fight cancer utilize goat milk, potato starch and camu-camu, a South American berry. An extract from the latter, in combination with immunotherapy, helped people with melanoma and lung cancer in a small study run by Elkrief\u2019s group in Montreal.\n <\/p>\n

\n For all his excitement about the possibilities, Pal warns against outpacing the evidence. \u201cEver since we started publishing results, I know a lot of patients have been taking these supplements,\u201d he said of CBM588 and other probiotics. \u201cBut I really do urge them to wait for the data from the clinical trials to come out. I know it\u2019s really hard to do, but I\u2019m trying to look at CBM588, and really all the drugs in this category, with the same rigor that we would with our advanced [drugs].\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n In the meantime, the unanswered questions haven\u2019t kept City of Hope from changing its inpatient food service menu, running a quarterly food pantry or planting a garden where patients and staff can grab fresh vegetables.\n <\/p>\n

\n Van den Brink is philosophical.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe\u2019re looking to make diet into a drug,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we\u2019re only just starting to learn how to manipulate it.\u201d\n <\/p>

Read more Young men are leaving Trump. Can a UFC fight at the White House get them back in the ring?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dubbed \u201cthe next frontier of cancer prevention and care,\u201d the microbiome appears to be especially critical when it comes to immunotherapy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1784,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"yoast_head":"\nA healthier gut may be key to cancer care - Relocation Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=1795\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A healthier gut may be key to cancer care - Relocation Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dubbed \u201cthe next frontier of cancer prevention and care,\u201d the microbiome appears to be especially critical when it comes to immunotherapy.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=1795\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Relocation Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-05T11:35:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/74959ce43263770660520f7ab212745b.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"16 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=1795#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=1795\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3d25fb966f660ab012820a9e0acc09be\"},\"headline\":\"A healthier gut may be key to cancer care\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-05T11:35:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=1795\"},\"wordCount\":3143,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=1795#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/819d80edb605cbc2e6ead6616ad8855a.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Health\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=1795#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=1795\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=1795\",\"name\":\"A healthier gut may be key to cancer care - Relocation Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=1795#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=1795#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/819d80edb605cbc2e6ead6616ad8855a.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-05T11:35:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3d25fb966f660ab012820a9e0acc09be\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=1795#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=1795\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=1795#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/819d80edb605cbc2e6ead6616ad8855a.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/819d80edb605cbc2e6ead6616ad8855a.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":450},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=1795#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A healthier gut may be key to cancer care\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Relocation Times\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3d25fb966f660ab012820a9e0acc09be\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A healthier gut may be key to cancer care - Relocation Times","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=1795","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A healthier gut may be key to cancer care - Relocation Times","og_description":"Dubbed \u201cthe next frontier of cancer prevention and care,\u201d the microbiome appears to be especially critical when it comes to immunotherapy.","og_url":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=1795","og_site_name":"Relocation Times","article_published_time":"2026-06-05T11:35:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":512,"url":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/74959ce43263770660520f7ab212745b.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"16 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=1795#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=1795"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3d25fb966f660ab012820a9e0acc09be"},"headline":"A healthier gut may be key to cancer care","datePublished":"2026-06-05T11:35:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=1795"},"wordCount":3143,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=1795#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/819d80edb605cbc2e6ead6616ad8855a.jpg","articleSection":["Health"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=1795#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=1795","url":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=1795","name":"A healthier gut may be key to cancer care - Relocation Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=1795#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=1795#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/819d80edb605cbc2e6ead6616ad8855a.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-05T11:35:16+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3d25fb966f660ab012820a9e0acc09be"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=1795#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=1795"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=1795#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/819d80edb605cbc2e6ead6616ad8855a.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/819d80edb605cbc2e6ead6616ad8855a.jpg","width":800,"height":450},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=1795#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A healthier gut may be key to cancer care"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/","name":"Relocation Times","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3d25fb966f660ab012820a9e0acc09be","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/relocationtimess.com"],"url":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1795"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1795\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}