Gut microbiota-drug interactions in cancer pharmacotherapies: implications for efficacy and adverse effects

The gut microbiota is involved in host physiology and health. Reciprocal microbiota-drug interactions are increasingly recognized as underlying some individual differences in therapy response and adverse events. Cancer pharmacotherapies are characterized by a high degree of interpatient variability in efficacy and side effect profile and recently, the microbiota has emerged as a factor that may underlie these differences.

The effects of cancer pharmacotherapy on microbiota composition and function are reviewed with consideration of the relationship between baseline microbiota composition, microbiota modification, antibiotics exposure, and cancer therapy efficacy. We assess the evidence implicating the microbiota in cancer therapy-related adverse events including impaired gut function, cognition, and pain perception. Finally, potential mechanisms underlying microbiota-cancer drug interactions are described, including direct microbial metabolism, and microbial modulation of liver metabolism and immune function. This review focused on preclinical and clinical studies conducted in the last 5 years.

Preclinical and clinical research supports a role for baseline microbiota in cancer therapy efficacy, with emerging evidence that the microbiota modification may assist in side effect management. Future efforts should focus on exploiting this knowledge toward the development of microbiota-targeted therapies. Finally, a focus on specific drug-microbiota-cancer interactions is warranted.