Skip to main content

Table 1 Studies linking the gut microbiome composition to efficacy of cancer therapy. The table summarizes major findings from clinical and preclinical studies pointing to a link between gut bacteria and therapeutic outcomes in the context of various cancers and therapeutic regimens

From: Exploring the emerging role of the microbiome in cancer immunotherapy

Major finding

Mouse or Human data

Cancer/Therapy

Reference

Chemotherapy with immunostimulatory properties

 Akkermansia muciniphila abundance in baseline stool samples was associated with response to ICB

Mouse

Various cancer models/Cyclophosphamide immunostimulatory chemotherapy

[86]

 Presence of intratumoral gammaproteobacteria was associated with resistance to gemcitabine chemotherapy

Human; Mouse

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma/ Gemcitabine immunostimulatory chemotherapy

[94]

Immunotherapy

 Commensal microbiota was required for optimal response to therapy

Mouse

Various cancer models/ CpG-oligonucleotide + anti-IL-10R antibody and platinum chemotherapy (oxaliplatin)

[85]

 Total body irradiation disrupted intestinal barrier and improved outcome of T-cell based therapy by a mechanism dependent on LPS/microbe translocation and TLR4 signaling

Mouse

Melanoma/Adoptive T cell transfer

[97]

 Eubacterium limosum abundance was associated with decreased risk of relapse or disease progression

Human

Hematologic cancers/Allo-HSCT

[88]

 Blautia abundance was associated with increased overall survival and reduced risk of GVHD

Human

Hematologic cancers/Allo-HSCT

[87]

 Bacteroides abundance was associated with resistance to ICB-induced colitis

Human

Metastatic melanoma/Anti-CTLA-4

[93]

 Bacteroides abundance was associated with response to ICB

Mouse; Human

Metastatic melanoma/Anti-CTLA-4

[18]

 Bifidobacterium abundance was associated with improved spontaneous anti-tumor immunity and response to ICB

Mouse

Melanoma/Anti-PD-L1

[17]

 Faecalibacterium and other Firmicutes abundance in baseline stool samples was associated with response to ICB; Bacteroides abundance was associated with poor responsiveness to ICB

Human

Metastatic melanoma/Anti-CTLA-4

[92]

 Bacteroides caccae, Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, Holdemania filiformis, and Dorea formicogenerans were associated with response to ICB

Human

Metastatic melanoma/Anti-PD-1; Anti-CTLA-4

[91]

 A. muciniphila abundance in baseline stool samples was associated with response to ICB

Human; Mouse

Non-small cell lung cancer; Renal cell carcinoma/Anti-PD-1

[89]

 Higher microbiome richness, Clostridiales, Ruminococcaceae, and Faecalibacterium abundance, and enrichment in genes involved in anabolic pathways in baseline stool samples were associated with responsiveness to ICB

Human; Mouse

Metastatic melanoma/Anti-PD-1

[90]

 Several dozen bacterial species in baseline stool samples were differentially enriched between patients with strong vs. poor responsiveness to ICB

Human; Mouse

Metastatic melanoma/Anti-PD-1

[44]