Researchers from McGill University in Canada have proposed a possible explanation for the so-called 'obesity paradox,' in which overweight patients often respond better to anti-tumor therapy, reports infohub.kz.
According to SciTechDaily, the scientists focused on checkpoint inhibitors—one of the most common types of cancer immunotherapy. Tumor cells often exploit the body's natural defense mechanisms to evade the immune response, and drugs in this class remove that blockade, helping immune cells attack the tumor. However, the treatment does not work for all patients, so the authors set out to determine how external factors influence its effectiveness.
In experiments on mice, the specialists tested 12 different diets. It turned out that certain diets, which typically lead to weight gain, improved the results of immunotherapy. Moreover, the positive effect appeared within a short time, ruling out a direct link to long-term fat accumulation.
The authors concluded that the key role is played by the composition of food and its interaction with the gut microbiome. Foods nourish specific groups of bacteria in the intestine, and these, in turn, influence the immune system. Thus, the cause of the 'obesity paradox' may not be excess weight itself, but rather the specifics of the diet and the microbiome's response to particular nutrients.