Before Ewingella americana was a promising cancer microbe from a Japanese tree frog, it was a name in hospital microbiology reports. The species was first described in 1983 by Grimont and colleagues, who characterized it from ten clinical strains isolated in the United States. It was first found in sick people. The frog came 42 years later.
That history is largely missing from coverage of the striking preclinical result from the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, where a single intravenous dose of E. americana eliminated colorectal tumors in every treated mouse, outperforming both liposomal doxorubicin and an anti-PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitor. MedicalDaily reported those findings last month. The clinical file on the organism is what will determine whether any of it reaches patients.
