Gut bacteria may aid anti-cancer treatment

Dr Mutsa Madonda completed his PhD with Prof Magdalena
Plebanski and is now a post doc in her lab.

by Anne Crawford

Monash University researchers are part of an international collaboration that has identified two intestinal bacteria as being potentially important in the effectiveness of anti-cancer medication.

The researchers found that the compound Cyclophosphamide (CTX), used in chemotherapy, relies on Enterococcus hirae and Barnesiella intestinihominis for its efficacy in countering tumours.

Their study, published in the journal Immunity, shows that the two gut bacteria changed the tumour microenvironment, activating T cells and helping the body fight cancer cells. More specifically, they reduced regulatory T cells and stimulated anti-tumour Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) responses.

Congratulations to Dr Mutsa Madondo on his recent PhD award!

Congratulations to Dr Mutsa Madondo who graduated Friday 30 October 2015. His thesis title is "Immunomodulatory effects of cyclophosphamide: optimising treatment for improved efficacy in patients with refractory gynaecological cancers", supervised by Prof Magdalena Plebanski, head of Vaccine and Infectious Diseases Laboratory and Dr Sue Xiang in the Department of Immunology.

Mutsa's thesis investigated the effects of cyclophosphamide (a chemotherapy drug) on the immune system of patients with gynaecological cancers. It found that the drug was able to promote activation of specific immune cells that are capable of killing tumour cells. The drug also enabled these cells to migrate towards the tumour. These findings were associated with improved patient survival and disease stability. This research also identified differences between patients that responded to treatment and those that did not, and found new targets that could potentially improve treatment outcomes for patients.

Mutsa is now a postdoctoral fellow in Prof Plebanski's lab continuing to work on understanding immune suppression in gynaecological cancer patients.