A research team investigating the use of the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes against colorectal cancer has discovered a way to build a modified version of Listeria as an oral vaccine to prime the immune system directly within the gut, where anti-tumor cells are then generated. Details of the work, led by Stony Brook immunologist Brian Sheridan, Ph.D., are published in the Journal for the ImmunoTherapy of Cancer.
Colorectal Cancer is among the most dangerous and deadly cancers worldwide. The American Cancer Society projects there will be more than 150,000 new colorectal cancer diagnoses in the U.S. in 2026 with more than 55,000 deaths. Cancer immunotherapy represents a treatment strategy that harnesses a person’s own immune system to combat cancer. Immunotherapies are used to treat a small proportion of colorectal cancers. However, most colorectal cancers are not responsive to current immunotherapies.
Listeria is a bacterium that can cause infection, but its promise as an immunotherapy for several types of cancer including colorectal cancer has reached pre-clinical and clinical trials.




