Colorectal cancer, the third most common cancer type worldwide, is fuelled by ultra-processed foods and unhealthy oils, according to researchers at USF Health and Tampa General Hospital Cancer Institute who have uncovered a potential link to chronic inflammation that drives tumour growth. Recently funded by the National Institutes of Health with a five-year, $3.1mn grant, the researchers have already made major advancements in the understanding of colorectal cancer. Published in Gut, a leading international journal in gastroenterology and hepatology, the project’s first study examines how processed foods are likely hindering the body’s natural healing processes.“It is well known that patients with unhealthy diets have increased inflammation in their bodies,” said Dr Timothy Yeatman, professor of surgery in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and associate centre director for Translational Research and Innovation at the TGH Cancer Institute. “We now see this inflammation in the colon tumours themselves, and cancer is like a chronic wound that won’t heal – if your body is living off of daily ultra-processed foods, its ability to heal that wound decreases due to the inflammation and suppression of the immune system that ultimately allows the cancer to grow.”According to Yeatman, this study emphasises the urgent need to reevaluate the components of the diet, which typically consists of excessive consumption of added sugars, saturated fats, ultra-processed foods, chemicals and inflammatory seed oils. In previous studies, the USF Health Heart Institute found an imbalanced diet not only impacts colorectal cancer, but also plays a role in other diseases, including Alzheimer’s, diabetes and cardiovascular conditions.“Our bodies are designed to actively resolve inflammation through bioactive lipid compounds derived from the healthy fats, like avocados, that we consume,” said Ganesh Halade, associate professor in the USF Health Heart Institute in the Morsani College of Medicine and member of the Cancer Biology Programme at TGH Cancer Institute. “Bioactive lipids are very small molecules derived from the foods that we eat and, if the molecules are coming from processed food products, they directly imbalances the immune system and drives chronic inflammation.”While the molecules are difficult to detect, Halade used a highly sensitive analytical technique to detect trace amounts of lipids in 162 tumour samples from patients at Tampa General Hospital. The tumours were frozen within 30 minutes of removal and transported to his lab via USF and TGH Cancer Institute’s Biobank, in collaboration with USF Health Colorectal Surgery and the Gastrointestinal Oncology Programme at TGH Cancer Institute. Inside the tumours, the team observed an excess number of molecules that promote inflammation and a shortage of those that help resolve it and promote healing.These findings pave the way for a new, natural approach, resolution medicine, which focuses on restoring balance in the patient’s diet to treat colorectal cancer more effectively. Resolution medicine would focus on reversing inflammation using healthy, unprocessed foods rich with omega-3 fatty acids and derivatives of fish oil called ‘specialised pro-resolving mediators,’ to restore the body’s healing mechanisms along with balanced sleep and exercise. “This has the potential to revolutionise cancer treatment, moving beyond drugs to harness natural healing processes,” Yeatman said. “It’s a vital step toward addressing chronic inflammation and preventing diseases before they start.”Early trials using specialised derivatives of fish oil have shown promise in addressing inflammation at its root cause. The trials are underway at TGH Cancer Institute and the team will continue studying resolution medicine and its impact on patient treatment and disease prevention. This research was done in collaboration with national and international partners at Moffitt Cancer Center, Buck Institute for Research on Aging in California, Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Merck Research Laboratories in Boston, Florida Digestive Health Specialists in Bradenton and Hokkaido University in Japan.