UCF Researcher Tests Probiotic to Prevent Esophageal Cancer

A University of Central Florida researcher received a $380,000 grant to study whether Lactobacillus bacteria can prevent esophageal cancer in patients with chronic acid reflux.

Claudia Andl, an associate professor at UCF College of Medicine, will investigate how the probiotic restores the esophagus's bacterial environment. When stomach acid damages the esophageal lining, healthy bacteria die off and harmful bacteria proliferate, increasing inflammation and cancer risk.

Early results in disease models showed a reduction in Barrett's esophagus, a precancerous condition. When cancer developed in treated models, it occurred later than in untreated ones.

"The reintroduction of beneficial bacteria works two-fold," Andl said. "It restores a normal environment, but also these Lactobacilli suppress inflammation and repair DNA damage."

Esophageal cancer kills most patients within five years. The condition typically affected people over 60 to 70, but now appears in younger patients.

The Florida Department of Health's Florida Cancer Innovation Fund awarded the one-year grant. Andl joined UCF in 2016 after earning her Ph.D. in cell biology from the University Duisburg-Essen in Germany and completing postdoctoral research at the University of Pennsylvania.