Lachnospiraceae mitigates against radiation-induced hematopoietic/gastrointestinal injury and death, and promotes cancer control by radiation

A method of treating a tumor and/or a cancer in a subject, the method comprising:

• administering radiation therapy to a subject in need;
• and
• administering to the subject a bacterium and/or metabolite thereof, wherein the bacterium comprises one or more bacterial strains capable of producing SCFAs,
• wherein the tumor and/or a cancer is treated, wherein the effectiveness of the treatment of the tumor and/or cancer is enhanced as compared to radiation therapy alone.

A method of screening bacterial strains for use as an anti-cancer adjuvant therapeutic, the method comprising:

• providing one or more bacterial strains to be screened;
• conducting a composite genomic analysis for enzymes required for SCFA synthesis;
• and
• identify those bacterial strains with a relatively high gene copy for SCFA producing enzymes.