• Print
• Share
• Top

• Home
• Search Therapies
• Search Therapy Summaries
• Probiotics

Probiotics

Guidelines
Treatment
Wellness
Risk
Terrain
Cautions
Dosing
Integrative
Programs
More
Information

This summary is in development, with more information to come.

Probiotics, Prebiotics and Synbiotics

Probiotics are living microorganisms (bacteria and some yeasts) that, when consumed in sufficient numbers, can provide health benefits that go beyond basic nutrition, such as supporting gut and immune health and keeping the gut microbiota in balance. Examples of probiotic foods are yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, tempeh and kimchi. Probiotics are typically consumed in foods such as yogurt and other fermented foods. The effects of probiotic supplements separate from dietary sources are not always reported in the scientific literature. 

Prebiotics are dietary fibers that feed the friendly bacteria in your gut. Most prebiotics are soluble fiber substances like inulin, found in chicory root and foods like bananas, onions, jerusalem artichokes, jicama, garlic and others. Your helpful bacteria turn inulin and other fibers into energy for the colon cells and create protective immunity. Inulin is increasingly being added to a number of processed foods and probiotic supplements. 

Synbiotics simply means consuming both prebiotics and probiotics together.

Treating the Cancer

Working against cancer growth or spread, improving survival, or working with other treatments or therapies to improve their anticancer action

Lab and Animal Evidence

• Suppressed colon tumor incidence/number and size and increased cell death (apoptosis) in animals¹

Managing Side Effects and Promoting Wellness

Managing or relieving side effects or symptoms, reducing treatment toxicity, supporting quality of life or promoting general well-being

• During chemotherapy and radiation treatment, probiotics may reduce treatment-related diarrhea.²
• Colorectal cancer:
  
  • Reduced incidence of diarrhea induced by chemoradiotherapy, especially grade 2 or higher³
  • Reduced the portion of colorectal cancer patients experiencing irritable bowel symptoms, improved function-related quality of life and cancer-related quality of life scores in a small trial⁴
  • Conflicting findings on whether the use of  prebiotics, probiotics or synbiotics at the time of surgery in patients undergoing colorectal cancer surgery reduces the development of infectious complications⁵

Reducing Risk

Reducing the risk of developing cancer or the risk of recurrence

Clinical Evidence

• Yogurt consumption reduced risk of conventional adenoma, especially adenomas with high malignant potential, in men. Probiotics in yogurt are thought to contribute to this effect.⁶

Lab and Animal Evidence

• Lactobacillus casei BL23 protected mice against colorectal cancer development.⁷

Clinical Practice Guidelines

The Society for Integrative Oncology’s 2009 guidelines on botanicals cite research indicating that probiotics are useful in reducing enteritis related to radiation therapy and Fluorouracil (5-FU), as well as reducing diarrhea induced by 5-FU and Irinotecan.⁸

Optimizing Your Terrain

• Improved immune response⁹
• Improved the intestinal microbial environment¹⁰

Cautions

The About Herbs summary on Probiotics lists contraindications to taking probiotics as well as adverse events and herb-drug interactions.

Much is still unknown about the influence of supplements on cancer outcomes. A study presented at the 2019 annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research found that melanoma patients taking over-the-counter probiotic supplements had a 70 percent lower chance of response to cancer immunotherapy treatment with anti-PD-1 checkpoint inhibitors.¹¹

Neil McKinney, ND, and Lise Alschuler, ND, FABNO, do not give probiotics if the absolute neutrophil count is 1.5 or less.¹²¹³

BCCT advises consulting your physician before taking probiotic supplements. It may also be a good idea to work with a healthcare provider experienced in using probiotics in people with cancer, as many different types of probiotics are available, and taking the appropriate probiotic for your particular situation is important.

Dosing

BCCT does not recommend therapies or doses, but only provides information for patients and providers to consider as part of a complete treatment plan. Patients should discuss therapies with their physicians, as contraindications, interactions and side effects must be evaluated.

Dosage recommendations are available from these sources:

• Solutions 4 Health: Colorectal Cancer Wellness Plan
• Alschuler LN, Gazella KA. The Definitive Guide to Cancer, 3rd Edition: An Integrative Approach to Prevention, Treatment, and Healing. Berkeley, California: Celestial Arts. 2010.
• Alschuler LN, Gazella KA. The Definitive Guide to Thriving after Cancer. Berkeley, California: Ten Speed Press. 2013.
• Block KI. Life over Cancer: The Block Center Program for Integrative Cancer Care. New York: Bantam Dell. 2009.
• McKinney N. Naturopathic Oncology, 3rd Edition. Victoria, BC, Canada: Liaison Press. 2016.
• TRC Natural Medicines (subscription required): Look up the name of specific microorganisms (such as Lactobacillus) to get summaries. You can also look up specific products and get dosage recommendations.

Integrative Programs, Protocols and Medical Systems

• Programs and protocols
  • Alschuler & Gazella complementary approaches:¹⁴
    • Post-operative support
    • Bladder cancer
    • Breast cancer
    • Colorectal cancer
    • Gastric cancer
    • Pancreatic cancer (to reduce infection risk after Whipple procedure)
    • Healthy digestion
    • Hormone balance
    • Immune enhancement
    • Anti-inflammatory support
    • Insulin-resistance reversal
    • Managing diarrhea
    • Enhancing immune activity
    • Reducing inflammation and systemic inflammatory diseases
    • Reducing anxiety and depression
    • Improving insulin sensitivity
    • Improving digestion and detoxification
    • Reducing cancer risk
    • Reducing risk of dysbiosis from antibiotics
    • Colorectal cancer
  • Block program¹⁵
    • Core diet plan
    • Preventing/managing diarrhea from antibiotics
    • Radiation-induced enteritis
    • High-intensity nutritional support diet for cachexia (wasting)
  • Lemole, Mehta & McKee colorectal cancer protocol¹⁶
  • McKinney protocols¹⁷
    • Post-op diarrhea
    • With radiation therapy to protect gut and immune competence
    • Treatment-related diarrhea
    • With platin drugs (such as cisplatin) to prevent gut bacteria translocation to liver/blood
    • Protocol for better nutrition
    • Side effect alleviation protocol
    • Health restoration and creating healing conditions—detoxification
    • Cancer risk reduction plan
    • Reducing dysbiosis risk from antibiotics
    • Breast cancer
    • Colorectal cancer
• Traditional systems
  • Ayurveda
  • Traditional Chinese medicine

1. Ranji P, Akbarzadeh A, Rahmati-Yamchi M. Associations of probiotics with vitamin D and leptin receptors and their effects on colon cancer. Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention. 2015;16(9):3621-7; Shang M, Sun J. Vitamin D/VDR, probiotics, and gastrointestinal diseases. Current Medicinal Chemistry. 2017;24(9):876-887.
2. Wang YH, Yao N et al. The efficacy and safety of probiotics for prevention of chemoradiotherapy-induced diarrhea in people with abdominal and pelvic cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2016;70(11):1246–1253.
3. Wang YH, Yao N et al. The efficacy and safety of probiotics for prevention of chemoradiotherapy-induced diarrhea in people with abdominal and pelvic cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2016;70(11):1246–1253.
4. Lee JY, Chu SH et al. Effects of 12 weeks of probiotic supplementation on quality of life in colorectal cancer survivors: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Digestive and Liver Disease. 2014;46(12):1126–1132.
5. Anderson SW, Bazzell AF, Dains JE. An integrative review on the effect of prebiotics, probiotics, and synbiotics on infection after colorectal cancer surgery. AORN Journal. 2018;107(2):237–248; Aisu N, Tanimura S et al. Impact of perioperative probiotic treatment for surgical site infections in patients with colorectal cancer. Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine. 2015;10(3):966–972.
6. Zheng X, Wu K et al. Yogurt consumption and risk of conventional and serrated precursors of colorectal cancer. Gut. 2019;gutjnl-2019-318374.
7. Jacouton E, Chain F, Sokol H, Langella P, Bermúdez-Humarán LG. Probiotic strain Lactobacillus casei BL23 prevents colitis-associated colorectal cancer. Frontiers in Immunology. 2017 Nov 17;8:1553.
8. Deng GE, Frenkel M et al. Evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for integrative oncology: complementary therapies and botanicals. Journal of the Society for Integrative Oncology. 2009 Summer;7(3):85-120.
9. Aisu N, Tanimura S et al. Impact of perioperative probiotic treatment for surgical site infections in patients with colorectal cancer. Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine. 2015;10(3):966–972; Roller M, Clune Y, Collins K, Rechkemmer G, Watzl B. Consumption of prebiotic inulin enriched with oligofructose in combination with the probiotics Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Bifidobacterium lactis has minor effects on selected immune parameters in polypectomised and colon cancer patients. British Journal of Nutrition. 2007;97(4):676–684; Anderson SW, Bazzell AF, Dains JE. An integrative review on the effect of prebiotics, probiotics, and synbiotics on infection after colorectal cancer surgery. AORN Journal. 2018;107(2):237–248.
10. Aisu N, Tanimura S et al. Impact of perioperative probiotic treatment for surgical site infections in patients with colorectal cancer. Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine. 2015;10(3):966–972.
11. Spencer CN, Gopalakrishnan V et al. The gut microbiome (GM) and immunotherapy response are influenced by host lifestyle factors [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 2838.
12. McKinney N. Naturopathic Oncology, 3rd Edition. Victoria, BC, Canada: Liaison Press. 2016;
13. Alschuler LN, Gazella KA. The Definitive Guide to Cancer, 3rd Edition: An Integrative Approach to Prevention, Treatment, and Healing. Berkeley, California: Celestial Arts. 2010.
14. Alschuler LN, Gazella KA. The Definitive Guide to Cancer, 3rd Edition: An Integrative Approach to Prevention, Treatment, and Healing. Berkeley, California: Celestial Arts. 2010; Alschuler LN, Gazella KA. The Definitive Guide to Thriving after Cancer. Berkeley, California: Ten Speed Press. 2013.
15. Block KI. Life over Cancer: The Block Center Program for Integrative Cancer Treatment. New York: Bantam Dell. 2009.
16. Lemole G, Mehta P, McKee D. After Cancer Care: The Definitive Self-Care Guide to Getting and Staying Well for Patients with Cancer. New York, New York: Rodale, Inc. 2015.
17. McKinney N. Naturopathic Oncology, 3rd Edition. Victoria, BC, Canada: Liaison Press. 2016.

View All References

More Information

• ClinicalTrials.gov
• About Herbs: Probiotics
• Gurdev Parmar and Tina Kaczor: Textbook of Naturopathic Oncology
• Block KI, Block PB, Gyllenhaal C: Integrative Treatment for Colorectal Cancer
• Keith I. Block, MD: Life over Cancer: The Block Center Program for Integrative Cancer Treatment
• Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center: About Herbs, Botanicals and Other Products
• ConsumerLab.com
• Lone Star Medical Group: Natural Alternative Treatments
• National Cancer Institute: Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine