Anikka Swaby is analyzing how different diets affect the composition of microorganisms in the gut and the effect of nutrition on immune cells to better understand how immunotherapies work for people with cancer.
A type of immunotherapy called immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) have been very effective for the treatment of some cancers, greatly increasing survival. However, only a minority of people with cancer, including some people with obesity, respond to ICI. There is some evidence that diet and the composition of the gut microbiome, microorganisms which naturally live in the gut, are associated with an improved response to this type of therapy, but researchers don’t currently know why this happens.
With funding from the Canadian Cancer Society and the Terry Fox Research Institute, Anikka is working with a team to investigate different diets in preclinical models, analyzing the effect of diets on microbiomes and obesity. The research will include analyzing the types of bacteria in the microbiome, as well as the effect that these have on immune cells, which could influence the response to ICI. Anikka will also look at tumour samples donated by people with lung cancer treated with ICI and samples from their gut microbiome.
If successful, this research could provide an understanding of why people with obesity tend to have better responses to ICI and potential new ways to use nutrition to optimize cancer treatments, ultimately improving outcomes for people with cancer.