Researchers at The George Washington University, working with Weill Cornell Medicine, have identified specific gut bacteria linked to better responses to cancer immunotherapy in patients with advanced melanoma.
The study analyzed data from 678 patients across seven previous studies, all treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors - a type of therapy that can be highly effective in treating certain cancers, but does not work for everyone.
Researchers found that patients who responded well to treatment were more likely to have a specific type of gut bacteria called Faecalibacterium. They also identified beneficial metabolic processes such as those that produce short-chain fatty acids that may help support the immune system during treatment.
“Our findings show that the gut microbiome may play an important role in how patients respond to immunotherapy,” said Ali Rahnavard, senior author and associate professor of biostatistics and bioinformatics at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health.
Biological pathways
The study also uncovered biological pathways that may be linked to treatment resistance, offering new clues for why some patients do not respond.
These findings could help pave the way for more personalized cancer treatments, including strategies to improve the gut microbiome through diet or other therapies.
“Meta-analytic Microbiome Target Discovery for Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Response in Advanced Melanoma,” was published in Communications Medicine.
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