With support from Cancer Research UK, Dr. Pippa Corrie and her team at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge are leading a national study on how the gut microbiome could aid skin cancer treatment. Their research focuses on how bacteria, viruses, and fungi in the gut may influence immunotherapy outcomes in advanced melanoma patients. Nearby, Dr. Trevor Lawley and his team at biotech firm Microbiotica are collaborating to turn these insights into a new, potentially life-saving drug. Lawley highlights how both immunotherapy and microbiome science have transformed modern medicine. Now, they’re combining forces to create a new generation of ‘drugs made from bugs’ aimed at fighting cancer. Thanks to early support from Cancer Research UK, this promising innovation is closer to becoming reality.

Until recently, the microbiome was mainly linked to digestion but it's now clear that it plays a crucial role in supporting the immune system through a complex and essential partnership.

At the same time the last decade has brought major breakthroughs in immunotherapy, now widely used to treat advanced melanoma.

Immunotherapy boosts the immune system’s ability to identify and destroy cancer cells. While over half of patients treated with combination immunotherapy survive at least 10 years, it doesn’t work for everyone.

This is where the gut microbiome may hold answers.

Immunotherapy has transformed melanoma treatment, even in advanced cases, says Dr. Pippa Corrie. But we’re focused on the 50% for whom it doesn’t work or becomes ineffective. Our research shows that certain microbiome profiles may influence whether a patient responds well to treatment some support success, while others hinder it.

The two teams have pinpointed specific gut microbes that help boost the effectiveness of immunotherapy potentially making the treatment work for patients who previously didn’t respond. By introducing these beneficial microbes into patients’ systems the aim is to enhance treatment outcomes.

That’s the vision and Dr. Trevor Lawley’s team is working to make it a reality.

In collaboration with Dr. Corrie’s team, we’ve developed a capsule that delivers these helpful bugs to the gut, with the goal of improving immunotherapy response says Lawley. We’re currently in the early stages of a clinical trial involving patients across the UK and Europe and the early signs are promising. We expect results next year.

Source: https://news.cancerresearchuk.org/2025/07/22/gut-microbiome-melanoma-treatment/