The ick factor that could save a life: US cancer researchers look to fecal waste for treatment clues

The Mayo Clinic hopes to uncover how the microbiome affects how patients react to cancer medications

A leading US clinic hopes its fecal waste biobank will help researchers make new discoveries about how to treat cancer patients – one of several efforts to turn human waste into medicine.

The Mayo Clinic biobank is part of researchers’ years-long effort to “personalize” medicine by uncovering how the microbiome changes how patients react to cancer medications.