Diarrhea Bug May Offer Cancer Cure

Makarand writes "Researchers now think that the diarrhea bug may be of help in building resistance to colon cancer. The toxins produced by E. coli, the diarrhea bug, irritate the lining of the bowels and also interact with the cells in a way that prevents them from becoming cancerous. This may very well explain why colorectal cancer is common in the developed countries but rare in the developing countries. Researchers who added E. coli toxins to a dish containing rapidly dividing cancer cells could almost brought the cancerous growth to a halt."

Comments

Uh...

[fobside]

If you're a doctor, how do you prescribe cancer prevention? "I recommend brocolli and diahrrea."

Re:Uh...

[Simon Field]

As I recall, the active ingredient in broccoli is glucoraphanin, a precursor to sulphoraphane. The mechanism of sulphorophane is to induce the body to produce enzymes that attack free radicals.

Other anti-oxidants in fruit and vegetables may also scavenge free radicals, reducing their harm to DNA. But perhaps the sheer bulk of those foods also speeds the passage of the free radicals out of the system, so they have less time to do damage.

Now we have an article about an experiment using E. Coli toxins to slow down the rapid division of cancer cells in a petri dish. As others have pointed out, many toxic substances should also have this effect. But how did they decide that this effect was what was helping, and not the speedy elimination of free redicals?

Perhaps when you are looking for a lucrative anti-cancer drug, wishful thinking takes over.

E. Coli?

[waytoomuchcoffee]

That theory is pure shit.

So, on trip to taco bell, my carcinomas history?

[Unknown Poltroon]

Chemo, taco bell, chemo, taco bell....What a bitch of a choice.

Other possible cures

[atomicdragon]

Researchers who added E. coli toxins to a dish containing rapidly dividing cancer cells could almost brought the cancerous growth to a halt.

I can think of a quite a few things you add to the dish that would bring the cancerous growth to a halt, like concentrated hydochloric acid, plutonium or lit thermite.

Re:Other possible cures

[one9nine]

Unfortunately, they will also bring you to a halt as well.

My god, it's true!

[TheSHAD0W]

"White Castle has the taste some people can't live without..."

And in other news...

[Cinematique]

NEW YORK (AP) - The market winked it's eye today at Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM) as shares of the fast-food conglomerate shot up 1.68% today upon a report directly linking a reduction of colon cancer in their loyal consumer base with the food served at the variety of restaraunts under their corporate umbrella, including Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and KFC. Further boosting the stock this Monday, the company reported earnings that were on target with previous estimates, and a strong indication Goldman Sachs plans on raising the stocks rating from from a "Buy" to a "Strong Buy."

(end)

What else causes diarrhea?

[fobside]

It's not always the bacteria that does it, right? When you eat chips that contain Olestra, that gives you the runs as well. If you really flood your system with fluids, you soften the stool as well. IF you eat food containing lots of fats, it happens as well. This poses a problem of explaining causality to a normal person.

I see a bunch of people thinking, "Hey, diarrhea is a good thing!" Then people will start trying to cause themselves diarrhea any way they can, which is not a good thing. It's the cause of the largest loss of water in humans. I see people screwing their bodies up so they can be "healthy."

Sing along!

[Tom7]

when you're runnin' into cancer
and you want another answer

diarrhea,
diarrhea

Re:Sing along!

[Lord_Of_The_Beer]

I always liked

"Floting down the Gutter
on a piece of bread & butter"

this is not a single bullet theory

[sckeener]

The reason I don't buy it is a personal reason. My father and mother in law died of colon cancer and they had the worst eating habits.

Typically they would make some edible food in the morning and then nibble on it all day (hot or cold whether they washed their hands or not.) They bought pepto bismol in the economy size twice a week and thought that was normal!

This is a nice study, but there are other factors. My parents in law had well water that had oil in it, so I'd say environmental issues play a large roll in cancer.

Re:diarrhea?

[Cy Guy]

Yes, E.coli has gotten a bad rap because a couple of its strains (like 0157 and 0111) have caused terrible outbreaks of conditions MUCH worse than diarhea, including death of children and total organ failure. But most variants of E.coli (named for MC Escher because of its capability of rolling into a ball like a creature in one of Escher's drawings) are perfectly harmless or even beneficial* to our normal digestive process.

If anything the blame for the outbreaks lies with the meat processors who slaughter cattle in unsanitary ways that allows the contents of the gut to get mixed with the meat we eat. When this happens with steak, it really doesn't have much of an effect since the interior of the steak is never exposed to the E.coli and the exterior is cooked. But when a gut-splattered beef is left unwashed and then ground into hamburger - there is a chance that the interior of a hamburger will not be cooked to a temperature high enough to kill the E.coli (hambugers should never be served rare).

* there is current research being done to try and overwhelm 0157 in cattle by colonizing their tract with just beneficial strains. But this implies the meat processors aren't going to ficx the problem the right way by getting the sh!t out of our food in the first place.