By: Cassidy Delamarter, University communication and marketing

Colorectal cancer, the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, may be caused by the foods on our plates. Researchers from USF Health and the Tampa General Hospital Cancer Institute have uncovered a possible link between the Western diet — dominated by highly processed foods and unhealthy oils — and the chronic inflammation that drives tumor growth.

The researchers, recently awarded a five-year, $3.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, have already made major advances in understanding colorectal cancer. The project’s first study was published in Gut, a leading international journal in gastroenterology and hepatology, and examined how processed foods are likely to hinder the body’s natural healing processes.

“Patients with unhealthy diets are known to increase inflammation in their bodies,” said Dr. Timothy Yeatman, professor of surgery at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and associate center director for translational research and innovation at the TGH Cancer Institute. “We’re now seeing this inflammation in the colon tumors themselves, and cancer is like a chronic wound that doesn’t heal – if your body lives on highly processed foods every day, its ability to heal that wound decreases due to the inflammatory suppression of the immune system , which ultimately allows the cancer to grow.”

Yeatman says this study highlights the urgent need to re-evaluate the components of the Western diet, which typically consists of excessive consumption of added sugars, saturated fats, highly processed foods, chemicals and inflammatory seed oils. In previous studies, the USF Health Heart Institute found that an unbalanced diet not only impacts colon cancer, but also plays a role in other diseases, including Alzheimer’s, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

“Our bodies are designed to actively fight inflammation through bioactive lipid compounds that come from the healthy fats like avocados that we consume,” said Ganesh Halade, associate professor at the USF Health Heart Institute at Morsani College of Medicine and a member of the Cancer Biology program at TGH Cancer Institute. “Bioactive lipids are very small molecules that come from the foods we eat, and when the molecules come from processed foods, they directly unbalance the immune system and promote chronic inflammation.”

Although the molecules are difficult to detect, Halade used a highly sensitive analytical technique to detect trace amounts of lipids in 162 tumor samples from patients at Tampa General Hospital. The tumors were frozen within 30 minutes of removal and transported to his laboratory via USF and the TGH Cancer Institute Biobank in collaboration with USF Health Colorectal Surgery and the Gastrointestinal Oncology Program at TGH Cancer Institute.

Inside the tumors, the team observed an excess of molecules that promote inflammation and a lack of molecules that help eliminate it and promote healing. These findings pave the way for a new, natural approach, Resolution Medicine, that focuses on restoring balance to the patient’s diet to more effectively treat colorectal cancer.

“A person’s immune system can be extremely strong and have drastic effects on the tumor microenvironment, which is great when harnessed properly for health and well-being,” Yeatman said. “But not if it is suppressed by pro-inflammatory lipids from processed foods.”

Resolution medicine would focus on reversing inflammation with healthy, unprocessed foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids and derivatives of fish oil, called “specialized pro-resolving mediators,” to boost the body’s healing mechanisms along with balanced sleep and restore movement.

“This has the potential to revolutionize cancer treatment and go beyond drugs to harness natural healing processes,” Yeatman said. “It’s an important step in combating chronic inflammation and preventing disease before it starts.”

Early trials with specific fish oil derivatives have shown promise in targeting inflammation at its source. Studies are currently ongoing at the TGH Cancer Institute and the team will continue to explore solution medicine and its impact on patient treatment and disease prevention.

This research was conducted in collaboration with national and international partners at Moffitt Cancer Center, the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in California, Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Merck Research Laboratories in Boston, Florida Digestive Health Specialists in Bradenton and Hokkaido University conducted in Japan.