Probiotics Are Becoming a New Front in Fighting Cancer

These microbial residents of the gut play a deciding role in many disease pathologies, research suggests

Probiotics aren't a 'one-trick' bacteria, but rather have several actions that could help to fight cancers.Christoph Burgstedt/Shutterstock

If you’re like most people, you think of probiotics—“good” live bacteria that keep your gut healthy—as something that might be added to your yogurt or taken with antibiotics to protect your intestinal microbiome from being compromised.

This view of probiotics often extends to “prebiotics“—fiber-rich foods that the good bacteria in your gut “eat”—and “postbiotics”—substances released by the probiotics.