Impacts of Pre- and Pro-Biotic Supplements on Microbial Composition Related to Colorectal Cancers
Abstract
Early in the field of oncology, colorectal cancer was a rarely diagnosed form of cancer and often went undetected. Today, colorectal cancer is the second most deadly form of cancer and is responsible for over one million deaths annually worldwide. The human gut microbiome is a keystone of daily health and living, serving to help absorb nutrients, boost immune function, and is considered to be another organ within the human body. However, the gut microbiome is also thought to have a role in the prevention and treatment of gastrointestinal disease like colorectal cancer. There has been extensive discussion within the scientific community regarding the effectiveness of pre/probiotics on gut microbiota function, but there lacks concrete consensus on whether they are effective in preventing and treating disease. In this literary analysis, we systematically search within the NCBI PubMed database for studies associated with colorectal cancer and pre/probiotic supplementation using specific keywords and identified 100 unique articles devoted to the topic associated with colorectal cancers. Interestingly, the majority of articles were reviews of previously published data, with those that included novel data primarily focusing on non-human models that may not accurately represent the human response to supplements. Additionally, research in the field predominantly focuses on European and North American populations, severely ignoring underrepresented groups which likely have a myriad of gut microbial compositions. Our investigation stresses the need for an enhanced human global perspective on the impact of pre/probiotic supplementation on preventing and treating colorectal cancers across all populations.
Faculty Sponsors
Dr. Andrew Ozga
Project Type
Event
Location
Alvin Sherman Library
Start Date
4-3-2024 12:30 PM
End Date
4-4-2024 1:30 PM
Impacts of Pre- and Pro-Biotic Supplements on Microbial Composition Related to Colorectal Cancers
Alvin Sherman Library
Early in the field of oncology, colorectal cancer was a rarely diagnosed form of cancer and often went undetected. Today, colorectal cancer is the second most deadly form of cancer and is responsible for over one million deaths annually worldwide. The human gut microbiome is a keystone of daily health and living, serving to help absorb nutrients, boost immune function, and is considered to be another organ within the human body. However, the gut microbiome is also thought to have a role in the prevention and treatment of gastrointestinal disease like colorectal cancer. There has been extensive discussion within the scientific community regarding the effectiveness of pre/probiotics on gut microbiota function, but there lacks concrete consensus on whether they are effective in preventing and treating disease. In this literary analysis, we systematically search within the NCBI PubMed database for studies associated with colorectal cancer and pre/probiotic supplementation using specific keywords and identified 100 unique articles devoted to the topic associated with colorectal cancers. Interestingly, the majority of articles were reviews of previously published data, with those that included novel data primarily focusing on non-human models that may not accurately represent the human response to supplements. Additionally, research in the field predominantly focuses on European and North American populations, severely ignoring underrepresented groups which likely have a myriad of gut microbial compositions. Our investigation stresses the need for an enhanced human global perspective on the impact of pre/probiotic supplementation on preventing and treating colorectal cancers across all populations.
