Ever since Dr. Barry Marshall from the University of Western Australia ingested the bacterium H. Pylori to prove that they were the cause of gastric ulcers for which was awarded the Nobel prize for Medicine in 2005, it seems that not all these bacteria are created equal in terms of their cancer–causing potential. Researchers from Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center recently published a study in the Journal of Biological Chemistry demonstrating how some of these strains protect themselves from the immune system.

• Dr. Richard Peek, MD, researcher and Professor of medicine and Director of Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition and Associate Professor of Cancer Biology at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center