Characterization of Gut Microbiome Composition in Patients with Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Treated with Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy
Grazia Maria Vernaci, Edoardo Savarino, Ilaria Patuzzi, Sonia Facchin, Fabiana Zingone, Davide Massa, Giovanni Faggioni, Tommaso Giarratano, Federica Miglietta, Gaia Griguolo, Matteo Fassan, Marcello Mele, Elisa Gasparini, Giancarlo Bisagni, Valentina Guarneri, Maria Vittoria Dieci
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) achieving a pathological complete response (pCR) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy have a better event-free survival. The role of gut microbiome in early TNBC is underexplored. METHODS: Microbiome was analyzed by 16SrRNA sequencing. RESULTS: Twenty-five patients with TNBC treated with neoadjuvant anthracycline/taxane-based chemotherapy were included. Fifty-six percent achieved a pCR. Fecal samples were collected before (t0), at 1 (t1), and 8 weeks (t2) from chemotherapy. Overall, 68/75 samples (90.7%) were suitable for microbiome analysis. At t0, pCR group showed a significantly higher α-diversity as compared with no-pCR, (P = .049). The PERMANOVA test on β-diversity highlighted a significant difference in terms of BMI (P = 0.039). Among patients with available matched samples at t0 and t1, no significant variation in microbiome composition was reported over time. CONCLUSIONS: Fecal microbiome analysis in early TNBC is feasible and deserves further investigation in order to unravel its complex correlation with immunity and cancer.