Melanoma patients receiving therapy that helps their immune system kill cancer cells respond to treatment differently depending on the types of microbes in their gut, and new research suggests the microorganisms hindering therapy have more influence than the beneficial ones.

Findings by a collaboration that included researchers at Oregon State University, the National Cancer Institute, the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research and the University of Pittsburgh were published today in Nature Medicine.

The research is a key step forward in the fight against multiple types of cancer including melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer, said Andrey Morgun of the OSU College of Pharmacy.

«Our findings shed new light on the highly complicated interaction between the gut microbiome and cancer immunotherapy response and set a course for future studies,» he said.

Nationwide, melanoma is the fifth-most common cancer. Roughly 100,000 new melanoma cases will be diagnosed in the United States in the coming year, and more than 7,000 of those patients are expected to die, according to the American Cancer Society.

One of the most aggressive cancers, melanoma kills by metastasizing, or spreading, to other organs such as the liver, lungs and brain.

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Materials provided by Oregon State University. Original written by Steve Lundeberg. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.