Damage from gut bacteria may play a role in the rise in colon cancer in young adults
NPR Online NewsAPR 25
Bacterial Toxin Linked to Rising Bowel Cancer in Young Adults
Above: A gram-negative image, courtesy of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC)/National Escherichia, Shigella, Vibrio Reference Unit, of an E. coli bacteria of the strain O157:H7, revealed in the 3418x magnified scanning electron microscopic image in 2006. Image copyright: Smith Collection/Contributor/Gado via Getty Images
The Spin
Narrative A
With this new evidence, childhood exposure to colibactin from E. coli is likely driving the surge in colorectal cancer among young adults. The study’s findings — colibactin’s DNA-damaging mutations, targeting the APC gene in early life — reveal a clear microbial link to aggressive cancers decades later. Scientists and doctors must urgently pinpoint these bacterial triggers and develop prevention strategies, like microbiome screening and dietary shifts, to reverse this alarming trend.
Narrative B
This study not only illuminates E. coli's potential role in cancer, but also highlights the medical establishment's oversight: by focusing predominantly on genetic causes, while neglecting metabolic factors, it has failed to curb the youth cancer epidemic. Decades of research, including Warburg’s pre-WW2 metabolic theory, show that food and metabolic deterioration fuel cancer. The system must embrace alternative theories, like metabolic dysfunction, and integrate them into research and treatment to end this crisis.