August 7th, 2008

A professor at the University of Massachusetts has found the good in salmonella.  While most people have tried to avoid the bacteria in recent weeks, Dr. Neil Forbes believes salmonella may be able to fight cancer.

The Wall Street Journal reports:

His work, and others like it, highlights the intense search for treatments that target cancer cells without causing debilitating side effects such as weight and hair loss, excessive bleeding and fatigue that are common with radiation and chemotherapy.

Salmonella, a type of bacteria, naturally accumulate around tumors because bacteria like to eat, and tumors are a great source of food. Dr. Forbes, using a $1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, has found a way to drive the salmonella, which swim like sperm, into a section of tumors where chemotherapy is generally ineffective.

Studies in mice show the treatment has potential. All mice with tumors who received saline solution were dead after 30 days, while those receiving salmonella and zaps of radiation were alive after 30 days. And none got sick from the toxin.

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