During the “European Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month”, the health research portal of the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) highlights the work of the ”PerMiCCion” consortium, a German consortium led by Prof. Gianni Panagiotou, founded by the BMFTR. Together with our partners at University Hospital Münster, University Bonn, University Hospital Medical Center Göttingen, University Medical Center Freiburg and Heidelberg University Hospital, our Microbiome Dynamics Group is investigating the influence of the gut microbiome regarding the treatment of colorectal cancer in young adults.

Colorectal cancer has been considered as a disease of the elderly population. However, in recent years the number of cases diagnosed in people under the age of 50 has increased. The project ”PerMiCCion” aims to better understand the biological reasons of this trend and to develop innovative, microbiome-based strategies for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment

To better understand the underlying mechanisms leading to reduced survival in colorectal cancer patients, the research team coordinates the European doctoral network ”MiCCrobioTAckle”, where we study the interactions between the microbiome, metabolism and the immune system in cancer-related muscle reduction.