{"id":103174,"date":"2023-06-09T12:50:03","date_gmt":"2023-06-09T17:50:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=103174"},"modified":"2023-06-09T12:50:03","modified_gmt":"2023-06-09T17:50:03","slug":"salmonella-infections-linked-to-poorer-colon-cancer-outcomes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/salmonella-infections-linked-to-poorer-colon-cancer-outcomes\/","title":{"rendered":"Salmonella infections linked to poorer colon cancer outcomes"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Dilpreet Raju
\n<\/strong>Medill Reports<\/em><\/p>\n

Salmonella could pose a much more long-term health risk than just upending weekend plans with food-poisoning symptoms.<\/p>\n

According to a study published late last year in in part done by researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago, salmonella infection is considered an environmental risk factor for colon cancer.<\/p>\n

Researchers at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands discovered tissue samples that had higher prevalence of salmonella antibodies from colon cancer patients with poorer health outcomes, such as increased tumor size.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor young people, maybe it\u2019s not a big deal because your body is so strong when you\u2019re young, you can handle a lot of stress from pathogens. The challenge is usually for those past mid-age,\u201d said Jun Sun, UIC lead researcher and professor, who tested strains from Leiden to identify potential impacts.<\/p>\n

Yong-guo Zhang, research assistant professor at UIC, said their lab received over half a dozen bacterial strains of salmonella samples obtained by Leiden via routine colon cancer surgeries. Every sample tested had a different manifestation for its host, and the researchers injected mice with the samples.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey all behaved differently. Some of them would be lethal, killing the mice immediately,\u201d Sun said. \u201cSometimes minor symptoms would be induced. We use the mice because it\u2019s a controlled system, but naturally, mice are very resistant to salmonella, more than chickens or humans, so we have to treat them with antibiotics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zhang has worked on mouse models at Sun\u2019s lab, which focuses on microbiome interactions in health and disease, for 14 years. By using mouse models, Zhang said, researchers can \u201csee what happens and see if the mechanism of salmonella is of use to the\u00a0cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n

When observing cell cultures, mice infected with salmonella had noticeably quicker cell transformation, proliferation and larger tumors than those of mice not infected with salmonella.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Cancer cells stained with immunofluorescence. (Courtesy of Yong-guo Zhang\/UIC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cAs you can see, the green is a lot of salmonella cells within the tumor tissue,\u201d Zhang said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe challenge for individuals, especially on a daily basis,\u201d comes from understanding when to seek clinical help, Sun said. People who think they have food poisoning often don\u2019t seek medical advice, even if they \u201cmay feel sick for several days, especially for Americans with insurance costs here.\u201d<\/p>\n

More Americans put off seeking medical treatment due to cost of care in 2022 than the two decades prior, according to an annual Gallup poll<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The study points to a need for more understanding of salmonella\u2019s interactions within the body.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur model also shows that salmonella can translocate to other organs, including the brain,\u201d Sun said. \u201cAre either dementia or Alzheimer\u2019s disease related with salmonella infection? We don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s an important study and it’s an important opportunity to be able to remind people that we do want to take steps in our day-to-day lives and with the food we eat to help lower risk of foodborne illness,\u201d said Amy Bragagnini, a spokesperson for the National Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. \u201cHow can we better improve our diets to help lower the risk of salmonella?\u201d<\/p>\n

Bragagnini, a registered dietician and certified specialist in oncology nutrition, emphasized it is always important for people to practice good hygiene and to be careful of \u201csneaky\u201d kitchen items such as hand towels.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody needs to wash their hands. That’s just the biggest step that you can take to really help lower risk of lots of things: the flu, the cold and certainly foodborne illness contaminants, I know that one is kind of obvious,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I think you’d be surprised the amount of people that accidentally use the same cutting board, or might just rinse it off, between times that they cut meat and vegetables.<\/p>\n

\u201cDieticians can help people maybe find plant-based protein sources that also, in a roundabout way, might help lower outbreaks of salmonella. In addition, we know from a cancer perspective that people that eat a lot of red meat, anything over 12 to 18 oz. a week, there is an increased risk of colorectal cancer,\u201d Bragagnini said.<\/p>\n

For those who still have a hankering for real meat, Bragagnini said it\u2019s important to have a meat thermometer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat’s just a really a good way to help, again, lower your risk if you’re cooking the temperature so that salmonella can’t thrive,\u201d she said. \u201cAnother good idea is washing your produce, even just scrubbing it off just to make sure\u201d there\u2019s no surface germs from the grocery store.<\/p>\n

Published in Cell Reports Medicine, the full paper can be read here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dilpreet Raju is a master\u2019s journalism candidate at Medill. You can follow him at @DilpreetRaju on Twitter or reach him at\u00a0<\/em>dilpreet@u.northwestern.edu<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Dilpreet Raju Medill Reports Salmonella could pose a much more long-term health risk than just upending weekend plans with food-poisoning symptoms. According to a study published late last year in in part done by researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago, salmonella infection is considered an environmental risk factor for colon cancer. Researchers at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":872,"featured_media":103176,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5251,29,5377],"tags":[61,737],"class_list":["post-103174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chicago","category-health-and-science","category-spring-2023","tag-chicago","tag-health-and-science"],"yoast_head":"\nSalmonella infections linked to poorer colon cancer outcomes - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"According to a study published late last year in in part done by researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago, salmonella infection is considered an environmental risk factor for colon cancer.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/salmonella-infections-linked-to-poorer-colon-cancer-outcomes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Salmonella infections linked to poorer colon cancer outcomes - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"According to a study published late last year in in part done by researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago, salmonella infection is considered an environmental risk factor for colon cancer.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/salmonella-infections-linked-to-poorer-colon-cancer-outcomes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-06-09T17:50:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/06\/usda.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"996\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"659\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"dilpreet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"dilpreet\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/salmonella-infections-linked-to-poorer-colon-cancer-outcomes\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/salmonella-infections-linked-to-poorer-colon-cancer-outcomes\/\",\"name\":\"Salmonella infections linked to poorer colon cancer outcomes - Medill Reports Chicago\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/salmonella-infections-linked-to-poorer-colon-cancer-outcomes\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/salmonella-infections-linked-to-poorer-colon-cancer-outcomes\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/06\/usda.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-09T17:50:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/133d3986a5b40efaa29ef5cbb94a4bd7\"},\"description\":\"According to a study published late last year in in part done by researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago, salmonella infection is considered an environmental risk factor for colon cancer.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/salmonella-infections-linked-to-poorer-colon-cancer-outcomes\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/salmonella-infections-linked-to-poorer-colon-cancer-outcomes\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/salmonella-infections-linked-to-poorer-colon-cancer-outcomes\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/06\/usda.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/06\/usda.jpg\",\"width\":996,\"height\":659,\"caption\":\"Raw beef exits a meat grinder into a bowl. (Courtesy of U.S. Department of Agriculture)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/salmonella-infections-linked-to-poorer-colon-cancer-outcomes\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Salmonella infections linked to poorer colon cancer outcomes\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\",\"name\":\"Medill Reports Chicago\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/133d3986a5b40efaa29ef5cbb94a4bd7\",\"name\":\"dilpreet\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/80a8af8aba825df5da63e041fd2d66981e56fdd3d9af524d66ba9181e678905e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/80a8af8aba825df5da63e041fd2d66981e56fdd3d9af524d66ba9181e678905e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"dilpreet\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/dilpreet\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Salmonella infections linked to poorer colon cancer outcomes - Medill Reports Chicago","description":"According to a study published late last year in in part done by researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago, salmonella infection is considered an environmental risk factor for colon cancer.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/salmonella-infections-linked-to-poorer-colon-cancer-outcomes\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Salmonella infections linked to poorer colon cancer outcomes - Medill Reports Chicago","og_description":"According to a study published late last year in in part done by researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago, salmonella infection is considered an environmental risk factor for colon cancer.","og_url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/salmonella-infections-linked-to-poorer-colon-cancer-outcomes\/","og_site_name":"Medill Reports Chicago","article_published_time":"2023-06-09T17:50:03+00:00","og_image":[{"width":996,"height":659,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/06\/usda.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"dilpreet","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"dilpreet","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/salmonella-infections-linked-to-poorer-colon-cancer-outcomes\/","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/salmonella-infections-linked-to-poorer-colon-cancer-outcomes\/","name":"Salmonella infections linked to poorer colon cancer outcomes - Medill Reports Chicago","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/salmonella-infections-linked-to-poorer-colon-cancer-outcomes\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/salmonella-infections-linked-to-poorer-colon-cancer-outcomes\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/06\/usda.jpg","datePublished":"2023-06-09T17:50:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/133d3986a5b40efaa29ef5cbb94a4bd7"},"description":"According to a study published late last year in in part done by researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago, salmonella infection is considered an environmental risk factor for colon cancer.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/salmonella-infections-linked-to-poorer-colon-cancer-outcomes\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/salmonella-infections-linked-to-poorer-colon-cancer-outcomes\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/salmonella-infections-linked-to-poorer-colon-cancer-outcomes\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/06\/usda.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/06\/usda.jpg","width":996,"height":659,"caption":"Raw beef exits a meat grinder into a bowl. (Courtesy of U.S. Department of Agriculture)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/salmonella-infections-linked-to-poorer-colon-cancer-outcomes\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Salmonella infections linked to poorer colon cancer outcomes"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/","name":"Medill Reports Chicago","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/133d3986a5b40efaa29ef5cbb94a4bd7","name":"dilpreet","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/80a8af8aba825df5da63e041fd2d66981e56fdd3d9af524d66ba9181e678905e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/80a8af8aba825df5da63e041fd2d66981e56fdd3d9af524d66ba9181e678905e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"dilpreet"},"url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/dilpreet\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/872"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103174"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103174\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":103226,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103174\/revisions\/103226"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}