Ana Roman Skin

A study published in the International Journal of Artificial Organs tested NAC against several bacteria and fungi that can form hard-to-treat biofilms. These included Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus including MRSA, Staphylococcus epidermidis, drug-resistant Enterococcus, Klebsiella, and Candida. In the laboratory, 80 mg/mL NAC killed more than 99.9% of all the tested bacteria within 30 minutes, with no bacteria recovered afterward. NAC also significantly reduced the thickness of most of the biofilms tested and disrupted their organized 3D structure. This matters because biofilms form a protective community around microbes that can make them much harder to eliminate.

For Candida, the effect was different. A 2020 study published in Microorganisms tested NAC against both fluconazole-sensitive and fluconazole-resistant Candida albicans. NAC reduced fungal viability, biofilm thickness, total biofilm mass, and parts of the protective biofilm matrix. In already-formed biofilms, 100 mg/mL NAC reduced total biofilm mass by about 74% in the fluconazole-sensitive strain and 69% in the resistant strain. However, NAC was fungistatic rather than fungicidal—meaning it strongly slowed or stopped Candida growth but did not completely kill it.

A new global study published in The Lancet Oncology found that infections were responsible for an estimated 2.3 million new cancer cases in 2024—about 1 in every 8 cancer cases worldwide. Researchers from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), part of the WHO, examined 12 infectious agents known to cause cancer in humans, including viruses, bacteria and parasites.

These infections can contribute to cancer through different mechanisms, including persistent inflammation and changes to infected cells that interfere with normal mechanisms controlling cell growth.

H. pylori, a bacterium that infects the stomach, was the largest contributor, linked to an estimated 760,000 stomach cancer cases in 2024. HPV followed closely, accounting for around 750,000 cancer cases, while Epstein–Barr virus was responsible for approximately 260,000 cases.

Hepatitis B and C were also major contributors through their links to liver cancer. The burden was not evenly distributed: about 42% of infection-attributable cancers occurred in Eastern Asia, and roughly three-quarters occurred in low- and middle-income countries.