Protect the gut flora of patients about to start immunotherapy
Antibiotics given in the weeks before immunotherapy are linked to much worse results. A simple stewardship rule could preserve benefit at no cost.
Multiple cohort studies and meta-analyses report substantially worse survival in patients receiving broad-spectrum antibiotics within roughly 30 days before checkpoint blockade. Causality is uncertain because antibiotic use marks infection and frailty. A stewardship intervention — narrow-spectrum choice, shortest effective duration, deferral of non-urgent prophylaxis, and where necessary delaying checkpoint start — is testable and cheap either way.
- No one can predict who responds to immunotherapy · Checkpoint drugs cure some patients and do nothing for most. We still cannot tell the two apart before treating.
- Fragmented care and guideline gaps · Patients fall between specialists, wait for referrals and often do not get the treatment guidelines say they should.
- No incentive to repurpose cheap drugs · Old, cheap drugs with anti-cancer signals never get the trials they need because no one profits from the result.
Pages like this
not linked directly; found by shared links- IdeaTest a high-fibre diet as an immunotherapy adjunct
Shares Laurence Zitvogel, Capture diet, fibre and antibiotic exposure in every immunotherapy pivotal trial, No incentive to repurpose cheap drugs, No one can predict who responds to immunotherapy.
- IdeaRandomise a cheap antihistamine alongside immunotherapy
Shares No incentive to repurpose cheap drugs, No one can predict who responds to immunotherapy, Melanoma, Immune checkpoint inhibitors.
- TechnologyDietary fibre and the gut microbiome for immunotherapy response
Shares Laurence Zitvogel, Capture diet, fibre and antibiotic exposure in every immunotherapy pivotal trial, Probiotics, antibiotics and stewardship around immunotherapy, No one can predict who responds to immunotherapy.
- IdeaTest protein and resistance training during immunotherapy
Shares No one can predict who responds to immunotherapy, Renal cell carcinoma, Melanoma, Immune checkpoint inhibitors.
- IdeaTreat immunotherapy side-effects without wiping out the response
Shares No one can predict who responds to immunotherapy, Renal cell carcinoma, Melanoma, Immune checkpoint inhibitors.
- IdeaTake faecal transplant plus immunotherapy to a definitive trial
Shares Laurence Zitvogel, No one can predict who responds to immunotherapy, Renal cell carcinoma, Melanoma.
- TechnologyFaecal microbiota transplantation for PD-1 non-responders
Shares Laurence Zitvogel, No one can predict who responds to immunotherapy, Renal cell carcinoma, Melanoma.
- PersonTasuku Honjo
Shares No one can predict who responds to immunotherapy, Melanoma, Immune checkpoint inhibitors, Non-small-cell lung cancer.