Possible link between antibiotics and breast cancer growth found by UEA
Researchers found treating mice with antibiotics increased the rate at which breast cancer tumours grew in them.
A possible link between antibiotics and the speed of breast cancer growth, has been found by the University of East Anglia.
Researchers from the UEA and Quadram Institute found treating mice with broad-spectrum antibiotics increased the rate at which breast cancer tumours grew in them.
They also observed an increase in the size of secondary tumours that grew in other organs when the cancer spread.
Led by Dr Stephen Robinson, Group Leader at the Quadram Institute and Research Leader at UEA, the team used a cocktail of five antibiotics, and cefalexin on its own, to investigate how disruptive a healthy balance of bacteria in the gut, affected breast cancer growth in mice.
The researchers discovered that the use of antibiotics led to the loss of a beneficial bacterial species, which in turn sped up tumour growth.
Through further investigation, the team also found that a type of immune cell, known as mast cells, were found in larger numbers in breast cancer tumours in mice treated with antibiotics. Blocking the function of these cells also reversed the effect of antibiotics and reduced the aggressive growth of the tumours.
It is hoped that these results could lead to a refinement of antibiotic use in people affected by breast cancer, and the development of new ways to counteract the negative effects that certain antibiotics could have on breast cancer.
Kotryna Temcinaite from Breast Cancer Now, who founded the research told us that more work needs to be done before any conclusions can be made: "We still need further research to understand this complexed relationship. It might in the future led to a refinement of how antibiotics are used to treat breast cancer and how we can treat it, more generally."
"The next step is to investigate how those immune cells work, where they are coming from and how they affect Breast Cancer. They will also be investigating whether there is anything we can do to sustain the healthy gut bacteria, to help to treat breast cancer"
She also told us that the pandemic has undoubtedly had an effect on the amount of research that's been completed over the last 18 months.
"Due to lockdowns, laboratories have been closed for a number of months. This meant that only a limited amount of experiments were able to be take place, while many were cancelled".
"But now they are open again, we hope that research will recover and that it will bring more break-throughs for breast cancer."
"Labs need to catch up with the time they lost, but we hope that if we are able to fund more research, our studies can happen more quickly".