50 | OCTOBER 31 • 2019
Healrth | Israel’s role
continued from page 48
ing to see if there are other
genetic events or unspecified
mutations.”
The next phase of
Rennert’
s study involves eval-
uating the immune system
of women who had been
excluded from the previous
phase of research based on
BRCA1, BRCA2 or other
gene mutations.
“Our project is not meant
to look for environmental
factors, but rather genet-
ics and immunological
response,” he said. “We want
to see if these women have a
weakened immune response
to a cancer attack.”
EXPLORING OTHER FACTORS
The effort to arrest the
spread of breast cancer
involves more than cancer
experts.
Gilad Bachrach teaches
at Hebrew University-
Hadassah’
s Institute of
Dental Science in Jerusalem.
A microbiologist who spe-
cializes in clinical diseases
like tuberculosis and Malta
fever, Bachrach has taken
a particular interest in
Fusobacterium nucleatum —
a specific bacterium that was
found recently within malig-
nant colon tumors.
Now in the second year
of a $50,000-per-year ICRF
grant, Bachrach runs one of
only five labs worldwide that
can genetically manipulate
F. nucleatum. Since that par-
ticular bacterium in colon
cancer originates from the
mouth, he speculated that
it might reach tumors via
blood.
Specifically, a fusobacterial
surface protein, Fap2, binds
and activates a receptor
on immune cells known as
TIGIT, thereby suppress-
ing the ability of immune
cells to destroy the tumor.
Fusobacterium can travel to
the colon not only through
the gut but also through
the blood, meaning it can
reach other cancers as well,
protecting them from the
immune system.
“When you have gum dis-
ease, you bleed, and bacteria
could enter,” said Bachrach,
a former Israeli army tank
commander who has done
postdoctoral work at the
National Institute of Medical
Research in London and the
National Institutes of Health
in Bethesda, Maryland. “We
found that they specifically
colonized the tumor because
they find sugar exposed on
cancer cells. Then we looked
for other cancers where this
sugar is exposed, and one of
them is breast cancer.”
To stop the spread of can-
cer, Bachrach says, clinicians
should consider anti-spread-
ing agents, not just typical
cancer treatments. It is pos-
sible that fighting this bacte-
ria will have implications for
breast cancer patients.
“Antibiotics are drugs that
can kill bacteria,” he said.
“At some point, physicians
should think about using
antibiotics when they’
re
treating people with can-
cers.”
Ultimately, Bachrach
wants to re-engineer the
fusobacterium to turn it into
a cancer killer rather than a
cancer protector.
“Our long-term goal,” he
said, “is to engineer the fuso-
bacteria in order to colonize
the cancer and kill it.”
Larry Luxner is part of JTA’
s content
team. The story was sponsored by
the Israel Cancer Research Fund.
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