Chemotherapy can destroy the gut health of cancer patients

New research on BMC cancer shows that myelosuppressive chemotherapy destabilizes the gut microbiota of patients with solid organ cancers

The SAHMRI and Flinders University study evaluated the intestinal health of men and women who received conventional chemotherapy for cancers such as breast and lung cancer without exposure to antibiotics

The study’s first author, infectious disease expert and clinical microbiologist Dr.

Analysis of the subjects’ gut microbiota before and during chemotherapy revealed significant changes

Although the test proved that the microbiota was significantly altered, Dr.

"What we are seeing may be a good thing, because changes in the microbiota may trigger the body's immune response against cancer," said Dr.

She added that these findings make a significant contribution to our ability to predict the response of an individual's microbiome to chemotherapy before chemotherapy occurs

The SAHMRI Microbiome and Host Health Laboratory, in collaboration with the Flinders Cancer Innovation Center, will soon begin a larger study to examine whether changes in the gut microbiome during chemotherapy are related to the patient’s risk of infection or treatment response

It is hoped that this research will enable clinicians to better tailor treatments for patients to improve treatment results

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The paper, Conventional myelosuppressive chemotherapy for non-haematological malignancy disrupts the intestinal microbiome (2021) by Lito E Papanicolas, Sarah K Sims, Steven L Taylor, Sophie J Miller, Christos S Karapetis, Steve L Wesselingh, David L Gordon and Geraint B Rogers has been published in BMC Cancer 21, 591 (2021).