The WORMTUMORS initiative worked to understand how helminth infection modulates immunity to influence colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence and progression.
Helminth infection affects more than 2 billion people in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), such as South Africa. As it has been reported that helminth infection provides some protection against immune-mediated diseases, both infection and the use of helminth products are in trials as novel therapeutics for inflammatory bowel disorders commonly underlying colorectal cancer.
At the same time, the immune-suppressive nature of helminth infections can be detrimental to the generation of immune responses to other infections and vaccination, and may also impair anti-tumour responses in vivo. In LMICs in particular, infectious disease including helminths, contributes to over one third of cancers.
As a result, the EU-funded WORMTUMORS project addressed the pressing need to determine how helminths affect CRC development. “Our goal was to understand how helminth infection contributes to tumour development, with the aim of identifying novel strategies to improve colorectal cancer treatment,″ explains the Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellow, Dr Katherine Smith. She developed an experimental model of CRC to test the impact of live helminth infection and exposure in cancer. More specifically, she studied how helminth infection altered the anti-tumour immune response.
Further details:
The role of helminths in colorectal cancer