Lynch syndrome (LS) increases the risk of several cancers, including extracolonic cancers/upper gastrointestinal (GI) cancers. To date, prophylactic surgery is the only proven intervention to reduce the risk of LS-related extracolonic cancers. A trial led by experts at the Universities of Newcastle and Leeds investigated the long-term effects of resistant starch on cancer incidence in patients with LS. The findings were published in Cancer Prevention Research.
The study reports that resistant starch (30 g daily for four years) reduced upper GI cancer incidences in 463 LS patients by over 60% . After up to 20 years of follow-up, fewer patients receiving resistant starch (n=27) had extracolorectal cancers compared to patients receiving placebo (n=48). Possible mechanism: Resistant starch alters bile acid metabolism by gut microbiota, lowering the unconjugated secondary bile acid…
