Taking a probiotic, similar to what’s found in yogurt, may help cancer patients avoid intestinal injury, a common problem in those receiving radiation therapy for abdominal cancers. The research is published online in the journal Gut.
Radiation therapy often is used to treat prostate, cervical, bladder, endometrial, and other abdominal cancers. But the therapy can kill both cancer cells and healthy ones, leading to severe bouts of diarrhea if the lining of the intestine gets damaged
For many patients, this means radiation therapy must be discontinued, or the radiation dose reduced, while the intestine heals
William F. Stenson, professor of gastroenterology and inflammatory bowel disease at Washington University in St. Louis.
