Melanoma Cancer Patients Who Have High Fiber Diet Respond Better to Immunotherapy

Researchers from the University of Texas, the Center for Cancer Research at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, and the Oregon State University College of Pharmacy found that melanoma patients with a high-fiber diet improved response to immunotherapy.

The team said that the study holds a promising development in the fight against various cancer, like melanoma, considered the deadliest form of skin cancer. The findings of the study were analyzed from both people and mice models of the disease.

Melanoma Cancer Patients Who Have High Fiber Diet Responds Better to Immunotherapy Pixabay/idornbrach

Melanoma: The Deadliest Skin Cancer

According to NCI, melanoma is a disease in which malignant or cancer cells form in melanocytes. Over the past three decades, several new cases of melanoma have been recorded, especially in adults, although some cases of children and adolescents were also reported.

Melanoma is a rare form of skin cancer and is often found on the trunk or the head and neck in men. In women, melanoma often forms in the arms and legs. However, sometimes it can occur in the eye in a condition called intraocular or ocular melanoma.

In the US, melanoma is the fifth most common type of cancer. The American Cancer Society estimated that melanoma could an estimated 100,000 new cases in the coming year, of which 7,000 of them are expected to die.

NCI tells the public to watch out for signs and symptoms of melanoma, such as changes in the size, shape, and color of a mole, a mole with more than one color, asymmetrical mole, itchiness, or when a mole oozes, bleeds or is ulcerated. Current treatment options available for melanoma include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy.

How High Fiber Diet Improves Response to Immunotherapy

In the new study, titled "Dietary Fiber and Probiotics Influence the Gut Microbiome and Melanoma Immunotherapy Response," published in Science, researchers analyzed the effects of a high-fiber diet on people with melanoma as well as on mice models. Researchers focused on the therapeutic technique called immune checkpoint blockade (ICB), a revolutionary treatment of cancer, such as melanoma.

News Medical Life Sciences reported that ICB relies on inhibitor drugs that block proteins or checkpoints that the immune system T-cells produce and some cancers. Checkpoints are responsible for preventing immune responses from being too strong, keeping T-cells from killing cancer cells. The team aims to block them so that T-cells can do a better job in killing cancer cells.

The study analyzed hundreds of melanoma patients and their gut microbiome, dietary habits, probiotics intake, disease features, and treatment outcomes. Most of the participants were treated with a type of ICB called anti-PD-1. In a similar study conducted on mice, researchers injected tumors on the rodents to copy the study.

The human observational study showed that higher fiber daily intake is associated with disease non-progression in patients treated with ICB. Likewise, similar results were found in mice models. They explained that the findings integrate multiple data in which the microbial interactions involved have positively affected the host's response to immunotherapy.