This article, which appeared in Cure, features the Anticancer Lifestyle Program’s board member, Dr. Lorenzo Cohen, Director of Integrative Medicine at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. When diagnosed with melanoma, Dr. Cohen entered his own trial, which examined the role of the microbiome in the success of immunotherapy treatments.

Cohen, Wargo and their colleagues presented preliminary findings of that study in 2019. Among 46 patients with melanoma, those who ate a high-fiber diet rich in whole grains, fruits and vegetables were five times more likely to respond to anti-PD-1 therapy (a kind of immunotherapy) than those who had a low-fiber diet. And those who took probiotic supplements tended to have lower microbiome diversity.

“What’s interesting about the microbiome is that it’s far more complex than we know,” Cohen says.

The best way to feed a healthy microbiome is with a diet that includes whole grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables. Read more about the story here.