Background
Recently there has been a trend in increasing health and a significant portion of this has been tied to gut health. When it comes to gut health the gut microbiome is typically one of the first topics brought up; along with this comes the topic of maintaining and improving the bacteria in our gut. This is done in two fashions: diets and supplements. Within supplements, the ever more popular probiotics play an extremely important role in our gut health. Not only are probiotics beneficial in aiding digestion and other dietary benefits, but a recent study has shown that they may even suppress the formation of tumors, reduce colon inflammation, and cause the death of tumor cells related to colorectal cancer (CRC) (Zhou et al, 2024).
Colorectal cancer is the second most deadly cancer worldwide and it is occurring at an increasing rate, therefore it is of great importance that we continue to research the disease and find treatment options that may increase the outcomes for patients diagnosed with the disease (Patel et al, 2022). It is known that CRC patients may have altered gut microbiomes and that it may play a role in some of the symptoms of the disease as well as its progression (Cheng et al, 2020)(Yu et al, 2023). It’s also known that some probiotics can help restore a healthy balance of bacteria in the gut but can also reduce some of the harmful molecules that are produced by CRC (Amara et al, 2015)(Bender et al , 2023).