Medical Student Research Forum Posters

Immunotherapy is the “fourth pillar” of cancer treatment (Nobel Prize in 2018 by Drs. Allison and Honjo).

The gut microbiome has been shown to impact immunotherapy outcomes in cancer. 

In human-to-mouse experiments involving fecal transplantation (FMT), the effect of the gut microbiome on immunotherapy outcomes was observed to be transferable.

Cancer patients who receive antibiotics prior to initiation of immunotherapy may have worse outcomes, which is hypothesized to be due to the negative impact of antibiotics on the gut microbiome.

Microbiota have also been identified in solid tumors of the pancreas and breast—organs that communicate with the outside world.

In a murine model of pancreatic cancer, the intra-tumoral microbiome was shown to promote inhibitory immune pathways, and antibiotic reversed this effect.