Taking a four-strain probiotic supplement offered gastrointestinal and digestive benefits to colorectal cancer patients who had undergone radical surgery in a study published in Nutrients.
 
100 eligible colorectal cancer (CRC) patients who had undergone radical surgery and at least one round of chemotherapy were recruited for the study, which was designed to evaluate whether daily use of a supplement containing B. infantis, L. acidophilus, E. faecalis, and B cereus, would have significant digestive benefits compared to placebo.
 
CRC-related surgeries come with a variety of complications, including postoperative infections, diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and gastrointestinal bleeding, with further complications occurring as a result of adjuvant chemotherapy. The authors hypothesized that probiotic administration could help to reduce inflammatory responses at sites of tumor genesis, enhance patient immunity, restore gut function, and alleviate other effects of anticancer treatments by remodeling the disturbed gut bacteria. The study was conducted at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, China, for a full year.
 
Improved Microbial Diversity, SCFA Production
 
Significant improvements in gastrointestinal complications induced by chemotherapy were observed in patients who supplemented with probiotics compared to placebo. For instance, only eight patients in the probiotics group reported having the reaction type of diarrhea, which was dramatically lower than that of patients in the placebo group, suggesting that probiotics administration could reduce chemotherapy-induced diarrhea without affecting antitumor efficacy of the chemotherapy.
 
Based on fecal samples, it was determined that probiotic supplementation also significantly increased bacterial diversity indexes of the gut microbiota. Those who took probiotics had decreased phylum levels of firmicutes and increased bacetroidetes, proteobacteria, and verrucomicrobia. Several bacterial genera like akkermansia and clostridium were significantly increased, while prevotella, lactobacillus, and roseburia were decreased.
 
This corresponded with improved production of short-chain fatty acids, particularly of acetate, butyrate, and propionate.
 
“Growing clinical and animal studies have evidenced that chemotherapeutic drugs can cause various side effects during anticancer treatment periods, including the destruction of the immune system, the induction of gastrointestinal mucosal inflammation, the dysbiosis of gut microbiota, and injuries of physiological functions,” the authors concluded.
 
“The present study indicated that the administration of a probiotic combination containing four strains could significantly alleviate chemotherapy-induced gastrointestinal complications in CRC patients, including abdominal discomfort and diarrhea,” they continued. “This anticancer treatment […] also altered the structure and composition of the gut microbiota in CRC patients, as well as the generation of fecal SCFAs. Specifically, probiotics protected against this chemotherapy-induced gut microbiota dysbiosis, and promoted the production of SCFAs.