The Gut Microbiome as a Biomarker of Cancer Progression Among Female Never-smokers With Lung Adenocarcinoma
Takehiro Otoshi, Tatsuya Nagano, Jonguk Park, Koji Hosomi, Tomoya Yamashita, Motoko Tachihara, Tokiko Tabata, Reina Sekiya, Yugo Tanaka, Kazuyuki Kobayashi, Kenji Mizuguchi, Tomoo Itoh, Yoshimasa Maniwa, Jun Kunisawa, Yoshihiro Nishimura
Abstract
BACKGROUND/AIM: The gut microbiome plays an important role in the immune system and has attracted attention as a biomarker of several diseases, including cancer. In this study, we examined the relationship between the gut microbiome and lung cancer progression. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Female never-smokers diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma were consecutively enrolled between May 2018 and August 2019, and fecal samples were collected. Principal coordinate analyses were performed using Bray-Curtis distance matrices to investigate the effects of clinical variables (age, body mass index, Tumor-Node-Metastasis stage, T category, N category, M category, primary tumor size, performance status, and EGFR mutation status) on the gut microbial community. RESULTS: A total of 37 patients were enrolled. T category and primary tumor size were significantly correlated with the gut microbial community (p=0.018 and 0.041, respectively). CONCLUSION: This study identified the gut microbiome as a promising biomarker of lung cancer progression.