High-Fiber Diet Lengthens Survival.

• Position: MELANOMA

Patients with melanoma who reported eating more fiber-rich foods when they began immunotherapy treatment survived longer without cancer growth than patients with insufficient dietary fiber intake, relates research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, published in Science.

The benefit was most noticeable in patients who did not take commercially available probiotic supplements.

"Research from our team and others has shown that gut microbes impact response to immunotherapy treatment, but the role of diet and probiotic supplements has not been well studied," says co-senior author Jennifer Wargo, professor of genomic medicine and surgical oncology

Our study sheds light on the potential effects of a patient's diet and supplement use when starting treatment with immune checkpoint blockade. These results provide further support for clinical trials to modulate the microbiome with the goal of improving cancer outcomes using dietary and other strategies.

Patients who reported eating more...