Colon Cancer Is on the Rise in Young People—Is a Bacterial Toxin to Blame?

|

Colon Cancer Is on the Rise in Young People—Is a Bacterial Toxin to Blame?

Colibactin is produced by bacteria commonly found in the digestive system, including certain types of E. coli. About 20% of healthy people—and even some 31% of babies—have colibactin-producing E. coli in their guts, previous studies estimate.67

The toxin is known to damage DNA, and previous studies have suggested that colibactin-related mutations contribute to some cases of colorectal cancer.8

Dziubańska-Kusibab PJ, Berger H, Battistini F, et al. Colibactin DNA-damage signature indicates mutational impact in colorectal cancer. Nat Med. 2020;26(7):1063-1069. doi:10.1038/s41591-020-0908-2 But Ludmil Alexandrov, PhD, a professor of cellular and molecular medicine at the University of California, San Diego and senior author of the new study, didn’t set out to research colibactin specifically.

Originally, his team wanted to understand why people in different countries develop colorectal cancer at different rates. They genetically analyzed almost 1,000 colorectal cancer samples from people living in 11 countries to compare and contrast them.

“We did find some results which were country-specific,” Alexandrov said. “But actually, the thing that we found most exciting was this colibactin result.”

Alexandrov’s team found that DNA mutations associated with colibactin were 3.3 times more common in cancers diagnosed before age 40, compared to those diagnosed after age 70. They estimated that colibactin exposures likely happened early in study participants’ lives—probably before their 10th birthdays.

The results suggest that colibactin exposure could “put children on a trajectory for developing colorectal cancer 20 or 30 years earlier [than normal]—so instead of getting it at the age of 60 or 70, they’re getting it at the age of 30 or 40,” Alexandrov explained.

A vegan with a side of bacon 🥓

|

Lately I’ve been quite interested in vegan cooking mostly because its often rich in fiber, vitamins and protein without the saturated fats, especially the Omega-6s which are so problematic from a health perspective.

But gets werid so quickly as it’s not just a way of cooking but also in many cases a doctrine as most vegans have ideological reasons against eating all meat and dairy, and to a lesser extent fish. Vegans don’t necessarily oppose processed foods or excessive salt and sugar. Yet, I do appreciate their creativity at cooking and how much different than the unhealthy crap so many Americans eat these days and a great way to introduce yourself to new foods.

The internet advertisers have discovered my interest in vegan cooking and I’m now getting served up a steady series of advertising for ultra processed vegan food, which is basically the standard unhealthy American fare loaded with sugar and salt and made to look like traditional foods. Probably with half the taste and even more unhealthy then traditional American fare due to processing to make crap ingredients taste like meat and dairy.

I’m not a believer in orthodoxy, my diet included. Even some bacon in moderation is a good thing. But it should be a treat, not an every day or even every week thing. Just like it used to be back in the day of the bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich before it became an unhealthy kitchen stable mostly due to the push of the hog farmers.