DISCOVERY- High-fiber diet may 'rejuvenate' immune cells that fight cancer, study finds

Today's blog is another encouraging study to combat cancer. This study found high-fiber diets may help. The study was conducted with mice, and makes me wonder if it would have also helped with dogs (as our Dachshund Tyler passed from an agressive cancer). If you're recovering after cancer treatments or dealing with it, read this and discuss it with your doctor. Everything is worth a try.

(Image Credit: Iherb.com) 

High-fiber diet may 'rejuvenate' immune cells that fight cancer, study finds

By RJ Mackenzie , Live Science , nov 18, 2025

A laboratory study reveals an interaction between dietary fiber and the gut microbiome that may be helpful for fighting cancer.

A high-fiber diet may help support the function of immune cells that spot and kill cancer, mouse studies suggest.

Microbes in the gut can help the immune system fight cancer, and a fiber-rich diet may be the key to unlocking those benefits, a study in mice suggests.

The immune system is a key player in the body's battle against cancer. On the front line of this resistance are CD8+ killer T cells, a type of immune cell that marauds around tumors and then exterminates the cancerous cells. But after each successive battle, these cells become worn out and don't find tumors as effectively. As such, treatments that provide the cells with enough pep to finish their job are in high demand.

Now, in a study published Nov. 11 in the journal Immunity, researchers report that simple dietary changes may help revive these key immune cells by affecting the gut microbiome — the collection of microbial species in the gastrointestinal tract.

Chemo hurts both cancerous and healthy cells. But scientists think nanoparticles could help fix that. The team, led by Dr. Sammy Bedoui, an immunologist at the University of Melbourne in Australia, didn't set out to study cancer at all. Instead, their project began nearly a decade ago with "blue-sky discovery research," without a particular outcome in mind, he told Live Science.

The team was broadly exploring how CD8+ T cells defend the body. Some of their research involved mice that were genetically modified to lack gut microbiomes, and the team noticed that T cells transferred into these rodents started to die out after a couple of weeks. They began to look for a factor released by the microbiome that could help T cells thrive.

In a 2019 paper, they found that factor. When a lot of dietary fiber reaches the gut, bacteria in the colon cause the fiber to ferment. This process releases different chemicals, including short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). Bedoui, alongside study co-author and senior research fellow Annabell Bachem, showed that a particular SCFA — butyrate — rejuvenated tired-out T cells.

"They look very much like those cells that we would like to have when we treat patients or mice with immunotherapies," Bedoui said.