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Science

Diarrhea Bug May Offer Cancer Cure 32

Posted by timothy from the pays-yer-money-takes-your-chances dept.
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."
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Diarrhea Bug May Offer Cancer Cure More

Diarrhea Bug May Offer Cancer Cure

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  • Uh... (Score:4, Funny)

    by fobside ( 140397 ) on Monday February 10, 2003 @10:56PM (#5276454) Homepage
    If you're a doctor, how do you prescribe cancer prevention? "I recommend brocolli and diahrrea."

    • Re:Uh... (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Simon Field ( 563434 )


      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.

    • If you're a doctor, how do you prescribe diarrhea?

      • Go to India, and be sure to drink their excellent tap water... Sample their excellent fresh salads. Never wash your hands before eating. Enjoy fruit bought from traditional markets, especially fruits without a peel.
      • Keep your fruit jam or juice long enough for it to develop a nice grey fur before you consume it. Works with other foodstuffs too.
      • Always have a glas of ice-cold water just after getting up.

  • E. Coli? (Score:5, Funny)

    by waytoomuchcoffee ( 263275 ) on Monday February 10, 2003 @11:03PM (#5276499)
    That theory is pure shit.
  • Chemo, taco bell, chemo, taco bell....What a bitch of a choice.
  • The article reads like it's such a surprise E. coli. of all things is what they're using. E. coli is the most common prokaryotic model organism scientists study e.g. Watson & Crick, Kornberg, etc. The article is decent, but I think I'll just look in PNAS myself.

    Andy

    • Re:diarrhea? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Cy Guy ( 56083 ) on Tuesday February 11, 2003 @11:46AM (#5279845) Homepage Journal
      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 [spcnetwork.com] 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.

      • hambugers should never be served rare

        ... and what about "steak tartare"? ;-)

        • and what about "steak tartare"? ;-)

          Prepare it yourself by buying a thick steak or roast, washing it throughly, then quickly searing it on all sides.

          This will kill off all (or at least nearly all) E.Coli contamination - which is only on the exterior of the meat. Then trim off the cooked parts and grind or chop the interior raw meat into your steak tartare.

          Even then, I wouldn't feed it to children or anyone with a compromised immune system.

          (If you want to avoid the cooking and trimming steps, you might try marinating the whole cut in Everclear, or Bacardi 180 Rum, which should work as pretty effective 'edible' disinfectant. Do this after you have thouroughly washed it water - and then patted it dry, though. The left over Everclear marinade could then be mixed with Tomato Juice, Worcestershire Sauce, and Tabasco and served in a "steak tartare flavored" "Bloody Mary" to accompany the entree.)

      • That is so cool that e. coli is named after my favorite Escher print!

        Except apparently it's not..... it's named for Theodor Escherich. ( http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/sci/A0817668.html )

        Bummer.

  • Other possible cures (Score:3, Funny)

    by atomicdragon ( 619181 ) on Monday February 10, 2003 @11:30PM (#5276689)

    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.

  • My god, it's true! (Score:4, Funny)

    by TheSHAD0W ( 258774 ) on Monday February 10, 2003 @11:32PM (#5276693) Homepage
    "White Castle has the taste some people can't live without..."

  • And in other news... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Cinematique ( 167333 ) on Monday February 10, 2003 @11:52PM (#5276795)
    NEW YORK (AP) - The market winked it's eye today at Yum! Brands, Inc. [yum.com] (NYSE: YUM [nyse.com]) 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)
  • 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."
    • I see people screwing their bodies up so they can be "healthy."

      How is that new? People have been doing stupid things in the name of being healthy for as long as I can remember, and probably a lot longer than that.

      I think it's more about the toxins from E.Coli instead of the expulsion, though earlier comments bring up good points about the amount of time the free radicals spend in your system.


  • may offer cancer cure

    Anthrax... Diarrhea Bug... What next? ;-)

  • Sing along! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Tom7 ( 102298 ) on Tuesday February 11, 2003 @12:33AM (#5276979) Homepage Journal


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

    diarrhea,
    diarrhea

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

    Maybe English teachers should try harder to bring tense changing to a halt.

  • this is not a single bullet theory (Score:3, Insightful)

    by sckeener ( 137243 ) on Tuesday February 11, 2003 @08:39AM (#5278578)
    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.
    • I don't think they are trying to imply that this is a 'single bullet theory'. If anything, they are say that environmental issues *are* a factor. As a hygenically concerned society, we're all paranoid about bugs and germs, but there are millions of bacteria that are part of our natural microflora. Our environmental surroundings help to select for the particular types of bacteria on and in us. We all have E. coli in our gastrointestinal tracts, but certain strains secrete toxins which result in severe diarrhea and it seems that the population of developed countries are not as likely to have. Just keep in mind also that there are genetic correlations to whether a person may be susceptible to developing colorectal cancer.
  • I can't find (didn't try very hard either) an actual journal article for this. Did the authors break down colon cancer by age group in their comparison of 1st world and 3rd world countries? Colon cancer is usually late onset, occuring in the 60's and 70's--age groups that 3rd world countries have proportionally much fewer citizens in.
  • that perhaps the reason they dont see this in developing countries has anything to do with the quality of medical care?
    we find it, because we have better care and doctors to diagnose it, ect.
    in developing countries, your lucky to SEE a doctor.
    I hope they considered this factor...
  • This may very well explain why colorectal cancer is common in the developed countries but rare in the developing countries.
    I'm [wendys.com]
    Sure [burgerking.com]
    That's [mcdonalds.com]
    The [pizzahut.com]
    Reason [kfc.com]

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