The transplantation of intestinal bacteria to patients with melanoma led to the regression of the disease.
New hope is emerging in metastatic melanoma patients who have exhausted all possible treatments. A study at Sheba Medical Center showed that gut bacteria transplantation in patients with metastatic melanoma, combined with immunotherapy that stimulates the immune system, can lead to disease regression.
The co-authors of the study, published in the leading scientific journal Science, are Dr. Ben-Borasi, Senior Specialist in the Department of Oncology at Sheba and Lecturer in the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine at Tel Aviv University, Professor Gal Merkel, Director of the Ellaba Institute of Immuno-Oncology and Melanoma in Sheba. Part of the medical research was conducted by Dr. Erez Baruch, who is currently working on his Ph.D. in a laboratory in the United States.
In the study, gut bacteria were implanted from patients with metastatic melanoma, whose disease disappeared in response to immunotherapy, to patients with metastatic melanoma who were resistant to treatment. After transplantation and resumption of immunotherapy, one patient was found to have achieved a complete response and did not develop the disease for about two and a half years. Two other patients achieved sustained partial response.
According to Dr. Ben-Borasi, «This is the first clinical study in the world to show that by combining intestinal bacterial transplantation with immunotherapy in patients who have exhausted previous therapies, we can not only stimulate immune activity at the cellular level but also achieve an impressive percentage of clinical response without significant side effects. This is real hope for patients who have exhausted all treatment options.»
Professor Merkel stressed that «for the first time in humans, it has been demonstrated that the immune system in a patient’s body can be reprogrammed by replacing intestinal bacteria and achieve impressive therapeutic oncological results. The therapeutic procedure is simple, cheap, affordable and safe, and therefore applicable anywhere shortly.»