World Gastroenterology 2018

"Mothers are right after all, eating vegetables is important." Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world, particularly the developed world. In spite of the fact that the 5-year survival rates for earlier stages of this cancer are moderately great, at later stages survival goes down and the chance of cancer repeat goes up significantly. A way to turn a humble cocktail of microbes and vegetables into a focused on framework that looks for out and kills colorectal cancer cells has been found. Engineered probiotics can target and kill colorectal cancer cells in the nearness of a substance have been found in a few vegetables. Bacteria have been intended that particularly targets colorectal cancer cells and converts a constituent in a few vegetables into an anticancer agent. The system decreased the number of tumors by 75 per cent and shrank the remaining tumors by triple of colorectal cancer. At the heart of this cancer-targeting framework is an b...

Babies in the womb are not as shielded from the outside world but the placenta wharves a unique ecosystem of bacteria which may have a surprising source – the mother’s mouth. Disturbances of the placenta’s bacterial community may explain why some women give birth prematurely, and could also be one of the ways that a woman’s diet affects her offspring’s gut bacteria, and as a result the child’s disease risk. Various nutrients [in the mother’s diet] are a huge determining factor of which microbes take up abode in the placenta.  A broad range of bacteria are present comprising those compulsory for metabolizing some of the vitamins and nutrients needed by the fetus. The first surprise was that the bacterial species were most similar to those normally found in the adult mouth, as contrasting to gut. The fact that the bacterial community found in the mouth suggests that these bacteria reach the baby either by crossing into the baby’s blood vessels within the placenta or by pass...

Colon cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths in not only the United States, but all over the globe. Conventional research over the last 50 years has shown that tumors undergo a series of genetic mutations that lead to the unchecked growth of tumors and their progression to metastatic cancer. Traditional therapies designed to kill the bulk of cancer tumor cells continue to fall short of a cure for advanced, drug-resistant colon cancers. Over-expression of HOXA4 and HOXA9 genes in colon cancer stem cells promotes cell replication and contributes to the overpopulation of stem cells that drives colon cancer development. The findings suggest treatment with vitamin A derivatives, called retinoid drugs, could provide a therapeutic strategy for decreasing the expression of these HOX genes and for targeting highly resistant cancer stem cells. These long-lived, uncommon cells start out as tissue stem cells that become cancer stem cells when certain mutations or mistakes occur...

Colonoscopies are secure and have been proven to be a successful way to screen for colon cancer. In any case, a few patients cannot endure the procedure, or may be at higher risk for sedation. During a standard colonoscope, a flexible tube (colonoscope) is embedded into the rectum and guided by a physician through the colon. A camera at the end of the colonoscope allows for visualization of polyps which, in case left in place, can turn into cancer. The polyps are evacuated during the procedure. Patients are sedated and require to take a day off from their normal activities. A new non-invasive and most recent alternative to this has been developed in which the system can help distinguish growths called polyps, like a colonoscopy. The patient ingests PillCam Colon 2, a capsule containing two miniature cameras on the either end. It captures pictures as the capsule descends the digestive tract and wirelessly transmits them to a recorder which the patient wears on a belt. It is also...