In a recent publication Kota Arima and other OPTIMISTICC team members published a paper Western-Style Diet, pks Island-Carrying Escherichia coli, and Colorectal Cancer: Analyses From Two Large Prospective Cohort Studies. Evidence supports a carcinogenic role of Escherichia coli carrying the pks island that encodes enzymes for colibactin biosynthesis. They hypothesized that the association of the Western-style diet (rich in red and processed meat) with colorectal cancer incidence might be stronger for tumors containing higher amounts of pks+E coli. They measured pks+E coli DNA in 1175 tumors among 3200 incident colorectal cancer cases that had occurred during the follow-up. They found that the Western-style diet is associated with a higher incidence of colorectal cancer containing abundant pks+E coli, supporting a potential link between diet, the intestinal microbiota, and colorectal carcinogenesis.
Congratulations Dr. Caroline Young
Dr. Caroline Young from Dr. Phil Quirke’s lab in Leeds gave the CL Oakley Lecture for the Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland and was awarded the Oakley lecture medal.