Jeffrey Bland, PhDPresident of Big Bold Health | Human Health Thought Leader

New Research: Gut Health & Cancer

18 May 2026 · 1 min

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In this brief presentation, Dr. Jeffrey Bland explains that about 40% of cancers are preventable, emphasizing the role of the digestive system in immune function. He notes that over 70% of the immune system resides in the gut, and that an unhealthy microbiome can send misleading signals that raise systemic cancer risk, not just gastrointestinal cancers. Bland highlights recent research linking gut microbiome composition to cancer risk and advises maintaining a healthy digestive tract through pre‑ and probiotics to avoid dysbiosis and the resulting immune‑driven “storm” that can promote cancer.

Chapters

Cancer is not inevitable. In fact, 40% of cancers are preventable by looking at risk factors. That's what the latest data says, 40%, 4 out of 10. So what do we do about risk factors? Well, one that's really important is in our digestive system. It turns out that our digestive system is the place where over 70% of our immune system resides. And when our immune system of our gut is getting bad information from the microbiome, it increases our relative risk of systemic cancer, not just digestive cancers. That's extraordinary research that's just coming out now that really starts to look at how our digestive microbiome connects to cancer risk. Keep a healthy digestive system, make sure you're getting pre and probiotics, make sure that you're not dysbiotic and having these funny bacteria that are creating an immune storm. That's the next approach that we have to preventing cancer.