Kidney Cancer Trial Tests Probiotic in 700 Patients to Boost Immunotherapy
Updated
Updated · CNN · Jun 5
Kidney Cancer Trial Tests Probiotic in 700 Patients to Boost Immunotherapy
3 articles · Updated · CNN · Jun 5
Summary
A kidney cancer patient in Cleveland will become the first enrollee in the first late-phase trial of a probiotic designed to improve immunotherapy outcomes.
Nearly 700 people with advanced renal cell carcinoma will receive CBM588 alongside standard treatment in an NCI-funded multicenter study, after smaller kidney and lung cancer studies suggested benefit.
CBM588 is a Clostridium butyricum strain already sold in Japan, but investigators said patients should wait for trial data rather than self-prescribe probiotics before evidence is complete.
The trial builds on growing evidence that gut microbes shape cancer care: heavy antibiotic use and microbiome disruption have been linked to worse outcomes, while one center cut pre-immunotherapy antibiotic use from 20% to 5%.
Researchers are also testing high-fiber diets and fecal microbiota transplants, but they say the microbiome’s complexity still makes it hard to identify which microbes or metabolites drive better responses.
In the quest to fight cancer, could manipulating our gut microbes accidentally unleash other diseases?
Beyond gut bacteria, could the trillions of viruses within us hold the key to stopping cancer?
As we turn food into medicine, how can doctors prescribe diets for unique gut microbiomes?
Gut Microbiome Modulation with CBM588 Boosts Immunotherapy Efficacy in Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma: Evidence, Mechanisms, and Clinical Implications
Overview
Recent research shows that the gut microbiome plays a crucial role in how well cancer treatments, especially immune checkpoint inhibitors, work. By using live bacterial products like CBM588 to change the gut microbiota, scientists have found that cancer patients—particularly those with metastatic kidney cancer—can see better results from immunotherapy. Although a recent clinical trial did not meet its primary goal of increasing certain beneficial gut bacteria, it still showed that patients receiving CBM588 had improved clinical outcomes. These findings suggest that microbiome-based therapies like CBM588 could soon become an important part of cancer treatment strategies.