University of Missouri scientists using salmonella to kill cancer

Abdominal and muscle pain, chills, fatigue, fever, diarrhea and headache — it’s hard to imagine anything good coming from a dose of salmonella.

But scientists at the Cancer Research Center and the University of Missouri may have found something.

The university announced Wednesday that the scientists have developed a nontoxic strain of salmonella to penetrate, target and kill cancer cells.

“Results from this study could lead to promising new treatments that actively target and control the spread of cancer,” the MU statement said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 48 million Americans contract foodborne diseases annually, with salmonella being the leading cause of illness.

However, this latest research from MU and the Cancer Research Center turns salmonella’s unique characteristic that allows the bacteria to penetrate through cell barriers and replicate inside its host into a benefit in the fight against cancer without harming normal, healthy cells.

“Salmonella strains have a natural preference for infiltrating and replicating within the cancer cells of a tumor, making the bacteria an ideal candidate for bacteriotherapy,” said Robert Kazmierczak, a senior investigator at the Cancer Research Center and a postdoctoral fellow in Division of Biological Sciences in the MU College of Arts and Science. “Bacteriotherapy is the use of live bacteria as therapy to treat a medical condition, like cancer.”

This genetically modified salmonella strain was administered directly into the circulatory system of mice with prostate cancer.

“We found that the mice tolerated the treatment well and when examined, their prostate tumors decreased by about 20 percent compared to the control group,” Kazmierczak said.

“The goal of this treatment is to develop a bacterial vector that can destroy the tumor from the inside out and reduce the amount of side effects endured by patients with cancer,” Kazmierczak said.

The study was recently published in Plos One and was funded by the Cancer Research Center.

This story was originally published October 26, 2016 at 2:25 PM with the headline "University of Missouri scientists using salmonella to kill cancer."