Research results have been published showing that a pill made from the stool of healthy people increased the effectiveness of cancer immunotherapy. Clip Art Korea
A study showed that a pill made from the stool of healthy people reduced the serious side effects of anticancer drugs and increased treatment effectiveness.
According to the New York Post on the 10th, Canadian researchers reported that ‘fecal microorganism transplantation (FMT) treatment’ increased the effectiveness of immunotherapy in some cancer patients. The research results were published in the international academic journal Nature Medicine.
The FMT pills used at this time, also called Crapsules, are made by freeze-drying the stool of a healthy donor into capsule form. This study, conducted in Canada, was conducted in two stages.
In the first study, scientists from the London Health Sciences Center Research Institute (LHSCRI) and the Lawson Institute analyzed the safety of immunotherapy drugs used to treat kidney cancer when used in combination with FMT.
As a result of analyzing the data of 20 patients, it was confirmed that serious toxic side effects such as colitis and diarrhea caused by immunotherapy were reduced in cancer patients who took FMT in combination. Anticancer immunotherapy drugs activate the immune system to attack cancer cells, but there are many cases in which treatment has to be discontinued due to excessive immune responses. The researchers predicted that controlling the intestinal microbial environment could reduce these side effects and increase treatment effectiveness.
The second study was led by the Montreal University Hospital Research Center (CRCHUM) and examined whether FMT brought about any changes in immunotherapy in patients with lung cancer and melanoma.
In the case of lung cancer patients, 80% responded to immunotherapy in the group that used FMT in combination, but when immunotherapy alone was administered, the response rate was only 39 to 45%. Melanoma patients also had a response rate of 75% when FMT was used together, which was higher than the single treatment group (50-58%).
The researchers emphasized, “It is a tremendous achievement to be able to reduce drug toxicity and increase clinical response to cancer treatment using FMT,” adding, “In particular, this is the first time to apply such a method to the treatment of kidney cancer.”
[용어설명] Fecal Microbiota Transplantation (FMT)
This is a treatment that purifies the stool of a healthy person and transfers it to the patient’s intestines to restore the broken intestinal microbial balance. It has been used for humans since 1958 and for animals about 100 years ago.
Purified stool liquid can be injected directly into the large intestine, or it can be placed in a capsule and taken as a pill.
Reporter Eunyoung Yoon very9832@nongmin.com
date: 2026-02-10 06:05:00
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