Dietary fiber and probiotics influence the gut microbiome and melanoma immunotherapy response

By C. Spencer, J. McQuade, V. Gopalakrishnan, J. McCulloch, Marie Vetizou, Alexandria P. Cogdill, M. A. W. Khan, Xiaotao Zhang, M. G. White, Christine B. Peterson and 79 more. Science, 2021

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Description Another benefit of dietary fiber The gut microbiome can modulate the immune system and influence the therapeutic response of cancer patients, yet the mechanisms underlying the effects of microbiota are presently unclear. Spencer et al. add to our understanding of how dietary habits affect microbiota and clinical outcomes to immunotherapy. In an observational study, the researchers found that melanoma patients reporting high fiber (prebiotic) consumption had a better response to checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy compared with those patients reporting a low-fiber diet. The most marked benefit was observed for those patients reporting a combination of high fiber consumption and no use of over-the-counter probiotic supplements. These findings provide early insights as to how diet-related factors may influence the immune response. —PNK Higher dietary fiber intake and avoiding probiotics improves immunotherapy responses in melanoma patients and mouse models. Gut bacteria modulate the response to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) treatment in cancer, but the effect of diet and supplements on this interaction is not well studied. We assessed fecal microbiota profiles, dietary habits, and commercially available probiotic supplement use in melanoma patients and performed parallel preclinical studies. Higher dietary fiber was associated with significantly improved progression-free survival in 128 patients on ICB, with the most pronounced benefit observed in patients with sufficient dietary fiber intake and no probiotic use. Findings were recapitulated in preclinical models, which demonstrated impaired treatment response to anti–programmed cell death 1 (anti–PD-1)–based therapy in mice receiving a low-fiber diet or probiotics, with a lower frequency of interferon-γ–positive cytotoxic T cells in the tumor microenvironment. Together, these data have clinical implications for patients receiving ICB for cancer.

Subfields: Dermatology, Molecular Biology, Physiology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/a980ecd60c8c25767f7e60710e0949f181673c92

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