AUTHOR=Xin Yujing , Peng Gang , Song Wei , Zhou Xiang , Huang Xiaoyu , Cao Xiaojing 

TITLE=Gut microbiota as a prognostic biomarker for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma treated with anti-PD-1 therapy

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Genetics

VOLUME=Volume 15 - 2024

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/genetics/articles/10.3389/fgene.2024.1366131

DOI=10.3389/fgene.2024.1366131

ISSN=1664-8021

ABSTRACT=To investigate the relationship between the gut microbiome and the response to anti-PD-1-based combination therapy in unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We aimed to identify potential non-invasive biomarkers and new strategies to modulate immunotherapy in HCC.In this study, fresh stool samples and clinical data were collected from unresectable HCC patients treated with anti-PD-1-based combination therapy at the Cancer Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences between January 2020 and December 2021. The patients were divided into two groups based on their response to treatment: the treatment responder group (R group) and the treatment non-responder group (NR group). The composition and diversity of the gut microbiome were bioinformatically analyzed by using the Whole Genome Shotgun strategy, including taxonomic composition analysis, Alpha diversity analysis, Beta diversity analysis, and differentially enriched bacterial taxa analysis. Differentially enriched bacterial taxa factors for PFS, and the abundance of Bacteroides_AF20_13LB was an independent related factor of OS.The enrichment of specific gut microbiota affected clinical efficacy and survival benefits in HCC treated with anti-PD-1 therapy and may be a promising non-invasive gut microbial biomarker and a new strategy for modulating immunotherapy in HCC.