Can Salmonella Be a Cancer Treatment?
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iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — If you thought nothing good ever comes from a case of Salmonella, new research treating cancer in rats might shock you.
According to preliminary research reported in the journal mBio, the foodborne bacteria may offer promise as a cancer treatment in the future.
Scientists genetically modified a strain of Salmonella to reduce its infectious potential and then injected it into tumors in rats. The researchers discovered the Salmonella infected the cancer cells and, in doing so, triggered the rats’ immune systems to attack the infected cells.
The modified Salmonella bacteria are not yet ready to be tried in humans.
Medical experts not involved in the study note that the research is still in preliminary stages and it’s unknown which kinds of tumor cells this might best work on, but the effort is promising.
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