Antibiotics prior to immunotherapy lower survival rate for cancer patients, study says

Source: Breitbart, November 2019

Sept. 13 (UPI) — While antibiotics fight off infections, they can lower survival rates for patients receiving immunotherapy for cancer, a new study says.

Patients who took antibiotics before starting immunotherapy survived, on average, for two months following treatment, according to research published Thursday in JAMA Oncology. That’s compared to those who take antibiotics during immunotherapy, who live an average of nearly 15 months after treatment.

“Cancer immunotherapy can be successful in around 20 percent of patients, but it’s very difficult to predict who is going to respond,” David Pinato, a researcher at Imperial College London and study corresponding author, said in a news release.”We have shown that with prior antibiotic exposure, patients’ response to immunotherapy and survival crashes.”