Fungi & Bacteria in tumours Overturning medical Dogma

The Micro-organisms at the Heart of Cancer

For this new Cell Suppression Theory to have any shred of validity, we would expect to find influential pathogens present within all tumours, if indeed they are driving cancerous conditions. Up until recently, tumours were assumed to be sterile – free of micro-organisms and their influence. But in a remarkable turn of events, the pioneering work of Ravid Straussman and colleagues, has recently uncovered that all tumours tested so far, harbour distinct populations of bacteria and fungi, otherwise known as the 'Tumour-associated microbiome'. Crucially, their presence appears to promote cancer progression:

"Collectively, our data reveal that the distribution of the microbiota within a tumour is not random; instead, it is highly organized in microniches with immune and epithelial cell functions that promote cancer progression."  - Nature 2022

Regarding the influence of fungi in particular, Ravid Straussman states:

"It's possible," Straussman said, "that fungi are somehow aiding the tumour to form or grow. Bits of data here or there showed that fungi correlated with the worst or bad prognosis." - Stat news 2023

Crucially, none of the established cancer theories appear to take into account the influence of these micro-organisms, certainly not through the lens of cell suppression as proposed by the CST. This means that current mainstream treatments – which are developed from the concepts put forward by each theory – are not targeting the pathogens that appear to have a direct influence. Could this oversight explain why we are struggling to effectively treat cancer?

Ravid Straussman Lab

Fungi, a New Hallmark of cancer?

Remarkably, a second pan-cancer analysis of the fungal mycobiome within tumours further supports the findings by Ravid Straussman and colleagues, that these pathogens are directly influencing the disease, and to the extent that it's now being claimed that the fungal mycobiome should be identified as a new hallmark of cancer.

This is a far cry from the current consensus that fails to recognise the undeniable influence of these micro-organisms - this of course means that mainstream medicine could be missing out on a treatment approach that has the potential to greatly improve the survival of cancer patients.

The concern is: how long will it take for mainstream medicine to catch up with these latest findings and adapt to accomodate their influence?

doi.org/10.1038/s41392-023-01334-6

"Lastly, we found that fungal DNA within the plasma of individuals could be used to discriminate between healthy individuals and cancer patients."

Ravid Straussman