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CANCER THERAPY

A probiotic supplement boosts response to cancer immunotherapy

Nature Medicine volume 28, pages 633–634 (2022)Cite this article

Subjects

Patients with kidney cancer who took probiotic supplements of Clostridium butyricum had improved response to immunotherapy, according to a randomized phase 1 study.

Clostridium butyricum is a butyrate-producing, spore-forming anaerobic bacterium found in many environments including soil, milk products and vegetables, and in the human gut1. Given their safety profile (they are sensitive to antibiotics and lack pathogenic markers and clostridial toxin genes)2, certain strains of C. butyricum have been used as probiotics for decades. In this issue of Nature Medicine, Dizman et al.3 report the first prospective clinical evidence that a food supplement containing the C. butyricum strain CBM588 increases the clinical benefit of dual immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

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Fig. 1: First randomized phase 1 trial combining a probiotic strain (C. butyricum CBM588) with a nivolumab plus ipilimumab regimen in metastatic kidney cancer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gustave Roussy, ClinicObiome, Villejuif, France

    Lisa Derosa & Laurence Zitvogel

  2. INSERM U1015, Equipe Labellisée - Ligue Nationale contre le Cancer, Villejuif, France

    Lisa Derosa & Laurence Zitvogel

  3. Departement of Medical Oncology, Gustave Roussy Cancer Campus, Villejuif, France

    Lisa Derosa & Laurence Zitvogel

  4. Center of Clinical Investigations in Biotherapies of Cancer (CICBT) 1428, Villejuif, France

    Lisa Derosa & Laurence Zitvogel

  5. Université Paris-Saclay, Le Kremlin Bicêtre, France

    Laurence Zitvogel

Authors
  1. Lisa Derosa
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  2. Laurence Zitvogel
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lisa Derosa.

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Competing interests

L.D. declares consulting and advisory role fees from BMS, Sanofi, Astra Zeneca and was supported by Philantropia Fondation Gustave Roussy. L.Z. received research contract from Kaleido, Innovate Pharma and Pilege.

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Derosa, L., Zitvogel, L. A probiotic supplement boosts response to cancer immunotherapy. Nat Med 28, 633–634 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-01723-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-01723-4

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