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MICROBIAL ENGINEERING

Towards a cancer-chemopreventive diet

Nature Biomedical Engineering volume 2, pages 6–7 (2018)Cite this article

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Commensal microbes engineered to convert natural compounds found in cruciferous vegetables into molecules with anticancer properties prevent carcinogenesis and cause the regression of colorectal cancer in mice fed with a vegetable diet.

Extensive epidemiologic and experimental work has unveiled an association between several foods and nutrients and the development of cancer1,2. However, strategies based on dietary modification or nutrient supplementation have shown mixed success, which has limited their possibilities for clinical translation. The challenges are numerous. Chemopreventive metabolites derived from foods may be inaccessible due to inherently low bioavailability or to limitations in host absorption. Also, the optimal dose, duration, formulation and time window of exposure to dietary components that would maximally influence the development of neoplasia remain largely unknown. And the interpretation of studies based on cancer cell lines or on genetically engineered animal models is hindered by their limited ability to recapitulate the earliest stages of human carcinogenesis or the complexity of the mechanisms that underlie molecularly heterogeneous tumours.

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Fig. 1: Microbial engineering for the enhanced prevention and treatment of cancer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit and Division of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    David A. Drew & Andrew T. Chan

  2. Broad Institute, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Andrew T. Chan

Authors
  1. David A. Drew
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  2. Andrew T. Chan
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Correspondence to Andrew T. Chan.

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Drew, D.A., Chan, A.T. Towards a cancer-chemopreventive diet. Nat Biomed Eng 2, 6–7 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41551-017-0186-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41551-017-0186-6

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