Research
Hormonal
Butyrate exerts chemopreventive effects on colorectal cancer by acting as a histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDACi) and promoting apoptosis in cancerous colonocytes.
Maintain high fiber intake to support butyrate production by gut bacteria. While not a treatment for existing cancer, butyrate's role in promoting healthy cell turnover and apoptosis may contribute to long-term colon health.
ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
Under conditions of anaerobic glycolysis, fatty acid oxidation is limited. Thus, the SCFA butyrate is not used extensively as an energy source by the colonocytes and begins to accumulate in the cytoplasm; this accumulation allows butyrate to act as a HDACi and ultimately sensitizes the cancerous colonocytes to apoptotic mechanisms, leading to cellular death
Why this rating
Based on in vitro and murine studies cited.
Source
Short Chain Fatty Acids in the Colon and Peripheral Tissues: A Focus on Butyrate, Colon Cancer, Obesity and Insulin Resistance
Sean M. McNabney et al. · Nutrients · 2017
DOI 10.3390/nu9121348
narrative_reviewCited 508×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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