Colon cancer is on the rise around the world. This new report concludes that early-life exposure to gut bacteria that produces colibactin, which is mutagenic, may be contributing www.nature.com/articles/s41... - ThreadSky

erictopol.bsky.social • 9 days ago

Colon cancer is on the rise around the world. This new report concludes that early-life exposure to gut bacteria that produces colibactin, which is mutagenic, may be contributing
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09025-8

Comments

richwellness.bsky.social•8 days ago

Probably not a good time to be gutting food safety and inspection.

wisepitador.bsky.social•9 days ago

Shouldn't we be factoring in the reduction of colon cancer in the risk benefit analysis of low dose aspirin?

ac12345.bsky.social•9 days ago

So, should doctors be testing individuals for the presence of colobactin as a step in preventing colon cancer?

samhainnight.bsky.social•8 days ago

Good question!

strotbek.bsky.social•1 day ago

Lfq

F

joesoap.bsky.social•8 days ago

Practically, every chemical, stress event and bacteria known to man "could" be contributing. Can science not stick to causation rather than misleading correlations?

mleipe.bsky.social•1 day ago

As I understand it, a whole lot of science goes into trying to figure out which correlations are misleading and which are more likely to point to causes.

Further, given the complexity of human health, single root causes seem to be very rare, so a lot of research focuses on manageable risk factors.

joesoap.bsky.social•1 day ago

If only it did. How many media stories have there been that red wine is good for you as has anti-oxidants, red wine is bad for you, "one glass a day can cause strokes and heart failure". No might possibly be. It goes on and on and makes science a laughingstock with the conservative set.

mleipe.bsky.social•10 hours ago

If you'd rather watch a video than read a book, @drlabos.bsky.social talks about his book at the link below. He addresses the red wine thing starting around 10:30 into the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dbihdq0WXc

mleipe.bsky.social•10 hours ago

I very highly recommend @drlabos.bsky.social's informative and entertaining "Does Coffee Cause Cancer?", which talks about this very issue, and addresses the red wine thing explicitly. Really a great read.

https://www.amazon.com/Does-Coffee-Cause-Cancer-Myths/dp/B0CL5GDGW6/ref=sr_1_1?crid=U0KTKM8K6T1B&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.TEX6YARWClqxV1EW3ss36AJBD8Fa3xRR2luyKo7V5v-rq8AGfJ3PdreTdrRfV6t7mp099NbyJOEoK5yTaIXhATVvDJOydo4j4Oh1tAm9HedhYG3KW2xHTUYL88ubtyoRmVaD04GJFxfjAach5gWyc1lIWSUhf-qYZIlbrdlQFTaYa2MV8EzzHyOYdxSQfjQBtKMYljkBT4Wewmu4IoTvZYph8L-erpg-g8xWgMFndwE.wruFoRW0sSWnUU950JCVbkVfncSIn-yTzfKr42QeXys&dib_tag=se&keywords=does+coffee+cause+cancer&qid=1746188169&sprefix=does+coffe%2Caps%2C107&sr=8-1

joesoap.bsky.social•9 hours ago

Red wine was only an example of a mass of bad science. Statistical analysis is the starting point of what may be the cause. The actual science is finding the cause.

mleipe.bsky.social•9 hours ago

And does it really matter whether or not a certain investigative technique fits your definition of "science"? I mean, if it has a track record of resulting in decreases in illness and mortality, in my mind it's something that we should continue to undertake, no matter what you choose to call it.

mleipe.bsky.social•9 hours ago

To claim that statistical analysis is not science is to dismiss and ignore the tremendous progress in medical science that it has led to.

And while some seem to think that they can redefine "science" to suit their agendas, that's a failure in their understanding rather than in science itself.

mleipe.bsky.social•9 hours ago

There are many, many illnesses for which significant and highly-effective clinical and public health interventions have been devised without identifying root causes for them. We are on the verge of virtually eliminating cervical cancer, for example, and it's statistical science that has got us here.

mleipe.bsky.social•10 hours ago

Much of this is a failure of how the results of studies are reported rather than of the science itself. And those who expect a high and unchanging level of scientific certainty are naive, IHMO.

Perhaps "the conservative set" need to expand their knowledge of science beyond high school chem labs?

joesoap.bsky.social•10 hours ago

The problem is that they are reported as "science" at all. The project is only half complete without cause identification. It is naive to believe that conservative set do not understand some science. The political problem here is that they may control funding and do not want the truth to get out.

mleipe.bsky.social•9 hours ago

Even lung cancer doesn't have one single "cause". It's strongly associated with smoking, but people who've never smoked can get it and some can smoke their entire lives without getting it. But knowing that smoking is a risk factor allows us to implement public health policy to reduce its incidence.

cbsmolly.bsky.social•8 days ago

Mutagenic colibactin..What’s the story with the mutagenic form?

judeasamaria.bsky.social•8 days ago

We've been seeing a lot on the emerging understanding of alarming levels of microplastics in the human body
Plastics support bacteria colonies in the ocean plastics.
Could they possibly be supporting increased numbers of colibactin-producing bacteria in the gut?

erictopol.bsky.social•1 day ago

And @economist.com today, tying this work to colon cancer in the young
https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2025/04/30/rates-of-bowel-cancer-are-rising-among-young-people

mbabco.bsky.social•1 day ago

Here's another article about it not behind a paywall.

https://www.sciencealert.com/one-cancer-is-rising-rapidly-in-younger-people-and-bacteria-could-be-why

mbabco.bsky.social•1 day ago

One more:

https://theconversation.com/colon-cancer-rates-are-rising-among-young-people-could-changes-to-childrens-gut-bacteria-explain-why-255176

frank-shinneman.bsky.social•1 day ago

Kaiser At-home tests dramatically reduced death rates for this kind of cancer, study finds

https://www.sfchronicle.com/health/article/home-colorectal-cancer-screening-kaiser-20301331.php?utm_content=hed&sid=5cd7a4e2f543e6276b02d15b&ss=A&st_rid=83d5b916-0772-46c4-81be-150e3ca3c6e8&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=headlines&utm_campaign=sfc_morningfix

ajaxsinger.bsky.social•9 days ago

I can't read the full paper, but I'm curious -- have E Coli infection rates risen significantly among young people in the last 30 years? Do we know why?

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