01.01.05
The SYNCAN project, an EU-sponsored multi-center European study coordinated by Orafti, aims to investigate whether pro-, pre- and synbiotics can reduce the risk of colorectal cancer, the most common form of cancer in the U.S. and EU. A key part of the project is a human volunteer study. The double-blind, placebo-controlled study involved 80 human volunteers, who had either intestinal polyps removed or had been treated for colon cancer. The synbiotic treatment consisted of 10 grams of Raftilose Synergy 1 and probiotic bacteria in capsule form, which was administered each day for 12 weeks. The results showed several biomarkers for colon cancer risk were positively modulated by the synbiotic treatment. The volunteers in the trial’s synbiotic group showed significantlydecreased genotoxic damage, that is damage to the cells’ DNA, compared with those who consumed the placebo. The results suggest that the consumption of this synbiotic composition may provide protectio against colorectal cancer.