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Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to Study Link Between Microbiome, CRC
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The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has received up to $25 million to begin a project that will aim to discover how certain microbes inside a person’s body lead to colorectal cancer and influence a patient’s response to treatment, according to a press release.
The institute was one of several institutions around the world to receive funding through Cancer Research UK’s Grand Challenge, which is an initiative that aims to identify the biggest global challenges in cancer research.
“Microbiome research has already thrown up a range of unexpected findings,” Matthew L. Meyerson, MD, PhD, director of the Center for Cancer Genome Discovery at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, said in the release. “With new genomic technologies, we can map the microbiome in incredible detail, so now is the right time to be investigating this phenomenon of cancer.”
The Opportunity to Investigate the Microbiomes Impact in the Science and Treatment of Colorectal Cancer (OPTIMISTICC) Project is expected, according to the release, to identify an understanding of the difference between a healthy microbiome and a microbiome associated with cancer and find ways to manipulate this collection of microorganisms to better prevent and treat cancer.
“The colon is the most densely populated microbial environment on the planet,” Wendy S. Garrett, MD, PhD, a medical oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. “We’ve assembled a global team with a lifelong interest in the microbiome and its huge impact on human health. This is an enormous undertaking. It is indeed a grand challenge and we as a team have been given a fantastic gift, and with that great gift comes an enormous responsibility to make a difference for colorectal cancer patients.”