The study examined a group of cancer patients and found that fecal transplants can quickly and safely restore a compromised microbiome within days of treatment.

Each person's unique gut bacterial population is increasingly understood to be vitally important in maintaining our overall health, but some medical treatments can significantly destroy vast swathes of our microbiome. In particular, researchers have been studying the microbiome of patients undergoing allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation – a treatment administered to patients with some types of blood or bone marrow cancers.