Fungi may spur the growth of pancreatic cancer

Scientists are learning more and more about how the trillions of organisms that inhabit our bodies—bacteria, fungi, viruses, protozoa—can affect our health, both for better (help you digest food) and for worse (make you ill). New research is looking at the link between a fungus by the name of Malassezia (shown below) and pancreatic cancer. Malassezia is typically found on the skin and scalp and can cause skin irritation and dandruff. Some studies have linked the fungi to inflammatory bowel disease.

As far as the pancreas is concerned, researchers found that Malassezia was present in extremely high numbers in samples from pancreatic cancer patients. In fact, it appears that the fungi may drive the growth of tumors by way of a cascade of events involving inflammation and the immune system. Researchers discovered that in mice and humans with pancreatic cancer the fungi multiply 3,000 times more than in healthy tissue. The fungi can also make pancreatic tumors grow bigger. 

The more scientists learn about the microorganisms that inhabit our bodies, the more they concur that a tumor’s “microenvironment” is just as important as the genetic factors driving its growth. As one researcher remarked, “We have to move from thinking about tumor cells alone to thinking of the whole neighborhood that the tumor lives in.”

These new findings may spur new developments in treating people with pancreatic cancer. For one thing, the presence of the fungi can serve as a biomarker for who might be at risk. At some point, anti-fungal treatments can be tried. In mice, an antifungal drug got rid of the fungi and kept tumors from developing. However, nobody is ready to begin administering anti-fungal treatments to people. The interaction between microbes and their hosts is very complex, and anti-fungal medications can have side effects. More experimentation is needed before pancreatic cancer patients will reap the benefits of this research. It sure sounds promising to me.

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