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Baseline gut microbiome alpha diversity predicts chemotherapy-induced gastrointestinal symptoms in patients with breast cancer

  • 0Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
Npj Breast Cancer +

|

November 15, 2024

|

November 15, 2024

View abstract on PubMed

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Chemotherapy can cause severe gut issues. This study found that lower gut microbiome diversity before treatment predicts worse gastrointestinal symptoms and microbiome disruption during chemotherapy for breast cancer.

Area Of Science

  • Oncology
  • Microbiome Research
  • Gastroenterology

Background

  • Chemotherapy often leads to severe gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, significantly impacting patient quality of life.
  • Current management strategies for chemotherapy-induced GI symptoms are often insufficient.
  • Emerging evidence highlights the gut microbiome's role in the development of these symptoms.

Purpose Of The Study

  • To identify pre-chemotherapy gut microbiome markers that predict the severity of GI symptoms following breast cancer treatment.
  • To investigate the relationship between baseline microbiome composition and chemotherapy-induced microbiome alterations.

Main Methods

  • Collected fecal samples, blood, and GI symptom scores from 59 breast cancer patients before, during, and after chemotherapy.
  • Analyzed microbiome diversity (alpha diversity) and the abundance of specific microbial species.
  • Correlated pre-chemotherapy microbiome characteristics with post-chemotherapy GI symptom severity and microbiome disruption.

Main Results

  • Lower pre-chemotherapy alpha diversity and reduced abundance of microbes like Faecalibacterium predicted increased GI symptom severity.
  • Tumor characteristics and diet were associated with lower baseline microbiome diversity.
  • Reduced baseline diversity also predicted greater chemotherapy-induced microbiome disruption and was linked to diarrhea.

Conclusions

  • Certain breast cancer patients exhibit lower gut microbiome diversity before chemotherapy, predisposing them to severe GI symptoms and microbiome dysbiosis.
  • These findings suggest that patients with low baseline microbiome diversity may benefit from pre-chemotherapy interventions targeting the gut microbiome.
  • Microbiome-directed strategies, such as dietary modifications, could be explored for preventing chemotherapy-induced GI toxicity.

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