Background: The gut us home to trillions of microorganisms, collectively referred to as the gut microbiome. This precious ecosystem is increasingly recognised to exert profound control over host physiology, and disease risk, based on its highly individualised yet dynamic composition. In cancer, the gut microbiome is increasingly recognised to influence treatment responses, with individual microbial fingerprints predictive of treatment outcomes, and dynamic changes in its composition contributing to side effect aetiology.
Objective(s): Provide an up-to-date overview of: (1) the role of the gut microbiome in cancer treatment outcomes, and (2) how a coordinated approach between the clinical environment and the lab are needed to accelerate translation of new knowledge into supportive care therapeutics.
Results: Key data from both clinical and preclinical studies will be presented, highlighting the ability to predict treatment responses based on unique microbial traits of the individual. The clinical challenges of these strategies will be highlighted, and novel strategies to enhance translation of these microbial risk prediction techniques highlighted. In addition, the body of data showing microbial distrubances after cancer treatment will be reviewed, and the challenges in determining causality discussed. This will provide an opportunity to highlight how preclinical and laboratory experiments can be used in parallel to determine causality, and ultimately identify how microbial biotherapeutics can be best used in cancer care.
Conclusions: The gut microbiome holds enormous potential in supportive cancer care. Coordinated approaches that leverage both clinical samples and preclinical models are needed to advance this knowledge into the clinic.