How Chemotherapy Disrupts Gut Microbiome in Breast Cancer

Chemotherapy is known to cause behavioral side effects, including cognitive decline. Interestingly, the gut microbiome communicates with the brain, influencing behavior and cognition. The gut microbiome is implicated in the cognitive side effects of chemotherapy in humans. This potential connection between the gut and the brain could lead to treatments targeting the gut to benefit brain health ().

Study findings are published in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.

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This clinical longitudinal observational study explored whether chemotherapy-induced disruption of the gut microbiome relates to cognitive decline and circulating inflammatory signals.

Fecal samples, blood and cognitive measures were collected from 77 patients with breast cancer before, during and after chemotherapy.

Insights into Chemotherapy's Impact on Cognitive Function and Gut Microbiome

“We found that patients treated with chemotherapy who showed decreases in cognitive performance also had reductions in the diversity of their gut microbiome,” said Pyter, also a researcher with Ohio State’s Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research and member of the Cancer Control Research Program at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James).

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This research builds on Pyter’s prior research in mouse models that found chemotherapy-induced shifts in the gut microbiome cause neurobiological changes and behavioral side effects.

The current study indicates that an association between gut microbiome and cognitive performance exists in humans as well.

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“Side effects of chemotherapy are common and may reduce quality of life, but these side effects can be dismissed as ‘part of chemotherapy’ and therefore overlooked and under-treated,” Pyter said. “We believe that gut microbiome-focused interventions, such as fecal microbial transplantation, may improve behavioral side effects of chemotherapy.”

OSUCCC—James researchers are also conducting research studies on how the gut microbiome impacts cancer treatment effectiveness and its role in reducing or increasing cancer risk.

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“Chemotherapy is a very important tool for stopping many cancers and side effects should not deter patients who would benefit from this type of therapy from pursuing it, but we know the side effects of some treatment regimens can be quite challenging for patients to complete,” said David Cohn, MD, interim chief executive officer of the OSUCCC – James. “It’s a careful tightrope of walking between effective cancer control and side effect management – and our team is working every day, in the hospital clinics and the lab, to develop ways to manage the side effects of disease treatment with an eye toward quality of life.”

Reference:

Chemotherapy-induced gut microbiome disruption, inflammation, and cognitive decline in female patients with breast cancer - (https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0889159124004392)

Source-Eurekalert