The Gut Microbiome as a Biomarker of Cancer Progression Among Female Never-smokers With Lung Adenocarcinoma

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.

Keywords: Biomarker; gut microbiome; lung adenocarcinoma; never-smokers.