Probiotic supplementation may help reduce chemotherapy side effects in breast cancer

Medical Xpress / Pensoft Publishers / Pharmacia ^ | May 9, 2025 | Aguslina Kirtishanti et al

[ConservativeMind]

Chemotherapy is one of the most popular ways to treat breast cancer. Even though it has proven to be effective, it also has downsides, such as a higher risk of side effects, as it doesn't only attack the cancer cells but can also affect normal cells. Chemotherapy-related side effects such as fatigue, weakness, and proneness to infections can influence treatment adherence and undermine the effectiveness of the therapy and the patients' quality of life.

Probiotics are among the emerging alternative supplements being studied for their potential benefit in cancer treatment. A new study published in the open-access journal Pharmacia explored the effects of multi-strain probiotics on chemotherapy-related side effects using Karnofsky performance score, complete blood count, and blood biochemistry.

The findings show that probiotics with seven strains have a potential effect in patients with breast cancer, especially in the improvement of common chemotherapy-related side effects such as fatigue and nausea. Alleviation of these symptoms can be seen before and after the probiotic supplementation.

Another potential effect of multi-strain probiotics is improving blood urea nitrogen levels. Significant improvement was observed in the ability to perform activities of daily living, which means patients can go about their lives more independently and reduce their reliance on others. This might also be related to the improvement of nausea and fatigue symptoms.

In conclusion, multi-strain probiotics have been shown to have potential benefits in chemotherapy-related side effects for patients with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy. Further, larger study is needed to explore these effects and to confirm the benefits of multi-strain probiotics before they are used in clinical practice.

[ConservativeMind]

The paper shows strains that are very similar to ones commonly available, and one that I’d never heard of.

You could do well getting the ones you can find similar ones of.

From the journal:

“The probiotics used in this study contain:

Rhodopseudomonas palustris EMRO 201 (>2.0 × 10⁶ cfu/ml) Lactobacillus casei EMRO 002 (>2.0 × 10⁶ cfu/ml) Lactobacillus casei EMRO 213 (>2.0 × 10⁶ cfu/ml) Lactobacillus plantarum EMRO 009 (>2.0 × 10⁶ cfu/ml) Lactobacillus fermentum EMRO 21 (>2.0 × 10⁶ cfu/ml) Lactobacillus rhamnosus EMRO 014 (>2.0 × 10⁶ cfu/ml) Lactobacillus bulgaricus EMRO 212 (>2.0 × 10⁶ cfu/ml).

According to the product summary leaflet, the antibiotics should be given in doses of 7.5 mL–15 mL three times daily.”

There are kefirs and multi-strain probiotic capsules that have similar ones, except for “Rhodopseudomonas palustris.” I have never heard of that one before.

[ConservativeMind]

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