Patients with certain types of cancers who consume sucralose, found in the artificial sweetener Splenda, respond worse to immunotherapy compared with those who don’t, researchers report July 30 in Cancer Discovery. But supplementing diets with the amino acid arginine might mitigate these effects, they say.
The findings add to a growing body of research showing that the gut microbiome — the vast community of microbes living in our digestive system — plays a crucial role in how well cancer treatments work. In this case, sucralose appears to disrupt beneficial gut bacteria that help support immune function, including T cells, the mainstay of our immune system.