Melanoma messes with your gut microbiome

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2023-08-31 01:00

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Patients with melanoma have different gut bugs than healthy people even before undergoing any treatment, according to international researchers. The team tested the poo of healthy volunteers and compared it to patients with melanoma who hadn't received treatment yet. The researchers say the microbiome - the community of gut bugs found in the melanoma patients' poo - was different to the healthy group, and differed depending on how advanced the melanoma was. The gut microbiome can impact how the body responds to immunotherapy, and the researchers say the melanoma patients had fewer beneficial bugs to help this process. Because of this, they say, more research should be done to see if improving a patient's microbiome could help them fight the disease.

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Journal/
conference: JAMA Dermatology

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: University of Texas, USA

Funder: Drs Witt and Cass are supported by grant T32 CA 009599 from the NIH and grant P30 CA016672 from the MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr Gershenwald is supported in part by the Michael and Patricia Booker Melanoma Research Endowment, the John Skibber Endowed Professorship, the MD Anderson Cancer Center Melanoma SPORE grant 1 P50 CA221703-01A1 from the NIH and National Cancer Institute (NCI) and associated Melanoma, Informatics, Tissue Resource, and Translational Pathology Core (MelCore), and the MD Anderson Cancer Center Melanoma Moon Shots Program. Dr Davies is supported by the Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Medical Research Foundation, the AIM at Melanoma Foundation, grant P50CA221703 from the NIH and NCI, the American Cancer Society and the Melanoma Research Alliance, Cancer Fighters of Houston, the Anne and John Mendelsohn Chair for Cancer Research, and philanthropic contributions to the Melanoma Moon Shots Program of MD Anderson Cancer Center. DrWargo is supported by grant 1 R01 CA219896-01A1 from the NIH, grant 4022024 from the Melanoma Research Alliance, grant SU2C-AACR-IRG-19-17 from the American Association for Cancer Research Stand Up To Cancer, and MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Melanoma Moon Shots Program. Dr McQuade is supported by the Melanoma Research Alliance, an American Society of Clinical Oncology and Conquer Cancer Foundation Career Development Award, the Elkins Foundation, Seerave Foundation, Rising Tide Foundation, the Mark Foundation, award 1 P50 CA221703-01A1 from the MD Anderson Cancer Center Melanoma SPORE Developmental Research Program, the MD Anderson Cancer Center Melanoma Moon Shots Program, the MD Anderson Physician Scientist Program, and grant R25CA203650 from the Transdisciplinary Research in Energetics and Cancer Research Training Workshop and the MD Anderson Cancer Center for Energy Balance in Cancer Prevention and Survivorship.

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