World’s first trial studies ‘poop pills’ for advanced pancreatic cancer treatment

Researchers in London say they're making progress on a new treatment for deadly pancreatic cancer. CTV’s Sean Irvine with more on the ‘poop pill.’

Scientists in London, Ont. are the first across the globe to study ‘poop pills’ for improved treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer.

Lawson Research Institute of St. Joseph’s Health Care London and London Health Sciences Centre Research Institute (LHSCRI) are initiating the study, using fecal transplants with capsules of microbes from the gut of healthy volunteers to improve response from patients during chemotherapy.

“Pancreatic cancer has a poor survival rate of approximately 10 per cent over five years and is expected to be the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in Canada in the next few years,” said Dr. John Lenehan, a scientist at LHSCRI and an oncologist with LHSC.

“Through this study, we aim to offer a new, innovative treatment to patients.”

According to Lawson and LHSCRI, research shows cancerous tumours have their own “community” of bacteria, viruses, and fungi, which helps the cancer defend against treatments.

“We also know from early science studies that there are bugs that live in the tumor itself,” said Lenehan.

“And there’s some evidence that says changing the gut microbes will actually change the tumor bugs. So, if we can change those tumor bugs, we think that we can make the chemotherapy work better for these patients.”

The fecal transplant pills, which are being called LND101, will be taken orally.

Phase one will take place over two years using a small group of patients from LHSC. Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) will take stool from screened health donors, process it in the lab, and create tasteless, odourless capsules, which will be given to the group participating.

“We will study how the gut bacteria of pancreatic cancer patients change after treatment with fecal transplants using the capsules and how this affects their immune system,” said Dr. Saman Maleki, a scientist at LHSCRI.

“Our goal is to determine whether a successful shift in the gut microbiome is connected to a better response to chemotherapy.”

The pills are produced at Lawson and show promise in treatment for various cancers, such as melanoma.

“Earlier studies led by Lawson and LHSCRI have demonstrated that the treatment is safe in other cancers and appears to result in better responses to conventional therapies among patients with advanced melanoma, lung cancer, and renal cell carcinoma,” said Dr. Seema Nair Parvathy, Lawson Associate Scientist and research director of the FMT team.

“We hope to achieve similar success with patients who have advanced pancreatic cancer.”

Now as the study is set to begin, the team is looking forward to future studies.

“We’re involved in more studies with lung cancer, and we’re hoping to start a further one with lung cancer and early stages of the study impact on lymphoma,” said Dr. Michael Silverman, lead of the FMT team and medical director of the Infectious Diseases Care Program at Lawson.

If the study is successful, it’s possible approval could come quicker, since pancreatic cancer is so deadly.

“In some cancers, the survival is like 10 years, so technically you have to wait 10 years to see what happens,” said Maleki.

“But with pancreatic cancer, the median survival is eight months. So, you’ll see something, or you’ll know something, faster than you can expect from other cancers.”

Parvathy stressed the importance of poop donors in cancer research. However, it can be tough to find people who qualify to donate.

“On average, we have to screen 43 people to get one person who passes the screen,” said Silverman.

More information on getting tested as a donor can be found by calling 519-646-6100 ext. 65739 or emailing Liesl De Silva at [e-mail].