Can the microbiota predict response to systemic cancer therapy, surgical outcomes, and survival? The answer is in the gut.

Can the microbiota predict response to systemic cancer therapy, surgical outcomes, and survival? The answer is in the gut. Expert Rev Clin Pharmacol. 2020 Apr 18;: Authors: El Bairi K, Jabi R, Trapani D, Boutallaka H, Ouled Amar Bencheikh B, Bouziane M, Amrani M, Afqir S, Maleb A Abstract Introduction: The gut microbiota seems to play a key role in tumorigenesis, across various hallmarks of cancer. Recent evidence suggests its potential use as a biomarker predicting drug response and adding prognostic information, generally in the context of immuno-oncology.Areas covered: In this review we focus on the modulating effects of gut-microbiota dysbiosis on various anticancer molecules used in practice, including cytotoxic and immune-modulating agents, primarily immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICI). Pubmed/Medline-based literature search was conducted to find potential original studies that discuss gut microbiota as a prognostic and predictive biomarker for cancer therapy. We also looked at the US ClinicalTrials.gov website to find additional studies particularly ongoing human clinical trials.Expert opinion: Sequencing of stool-derived materials and tissue samples from cancer patients and animal models has showna significant enrichment of various bacteria such as Fusobacterium nucleatum and Bacteroides fragilis were associated with resistant disease and poorer outcomes. Gut microbiota was also found to be associated with surgical outcomes an...
Source: Pharmacological Reviews - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Tags: Expert Rev Clin Pharmacol Source Type: research