Exploring the characteristics of gut microbiome changes in lung cancer patients and healthy controls

Lung cancer is among the most prevalent and lethal malignant neoplasms worldwide. Although the role of the pulmonary microbiome in the pathogenesis of lung cancer has been examined, the structure, diversity, and composition of the gut microbiome in lung cancer remain largely unclear. The present study is chiefly concerned with the analysis of the characteristics and alterations of the gut microbiome in lung cancer patients and healthy individuals, and with the exploration of potential characteristic gut microbiome in lung cancer patients. Stool samples were collected from 40 patients with lung cancer and 20 healthy controls at the Lung Cancer Center of West China Hospital, Sichuan University. The samples were analysed using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing to investigate differences in the relative and absolute abundance, diversity, and functionality of the gut microbiome between the two groups. The predominant gut microbiome communities in lung cancer patients and healthy controls were found to comprise Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, and Actinobacteria. The F/B (Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes) ratio in the lung cancer group (0.73) was lower than that in the healthy control group (0.96). We found that there was no significant difference in α-diversity between LC patients and the control group (p > 0.05), whereas β-diversity of the gut microbiome revealed differences in microbial community structure between the patient and control groups (stress < 0.2). The healthy controls exhibited higher abundances of Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes as dominant bacterial groups, whereas the characteristic bacterial groups in lung cancer patients were the Ruminococcus_gnavus_group and the Prevotellaceae NK3B31 group. Studies have demonstrated that the gut microbiome of patients with lung cancer patients undergoes changes, and characteristic gut microbiome profiles may serve as potential diagnostic markers for lung cancer. Furthermore, we have revealed that impairments in normal gut microbiome function may be associated with the development and progression of lung cancer, providing valuable insights for the early prevention, diagnosis, and targeted intervention of lung cancer.