News Health & Medicine

Carbs and gut microbes fuel colon cancer

Sugar-loving bacteria support the emergence of tumors in mice

COLON CARBS  In mouse colons, sugar-loving gut microbes encourage mutations in DNA (blue), which elevate cancer-related proteins (green), possibly explaining why Western nations experience more colon cancer.

Antoaneta Belcheva and Alberto Martin

By Nsikan Akpan

- More than 2 years ago

Westerners’ carb-rich diets have long been linked to high levels of cancer, and scientists have begun to work out why.