The prospective study of blood biomarker and gut microbiota in the patients treated with immunocheckpoint inhibitors for advanced non-small cell lung cancer

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K16820
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 50020:Tumor diagnostics and therapeutics-related
• Research Institution: Tokyo Metropolitan Hospital Organization Tokyo Metropolitan Komagome Hospital
• Principal Investigator: Okuma Yusuke 地方独立行政法人東京都立病院機構東京都立駒込病院(臨床研究室), 呼吸器内科, 医員 (50788768)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 肺癌 / 腸内細菌叢 / バイオマーカー / 可溶性PD-L1 / 非小細胞肺癌 / 免疫チェックポイント阻害薬

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Stool samples were gathered from patients suffering from relapsed or advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) prior to initiating anti-PD-1/PD-L1 antibody therapy. The gut microbiota of these samples were investigated using amplicon sequencing that targeted 16s RNA. Concurrently, clinical data and imaging information from the patients were also collected. This pool of information was used to identify characteristics of gut microbiota that might influence the therapeutic efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors. The process of analyzing clinical data and gut microbiota was carried out with the assistance of Professor Laurence Zitvogel of the Gustave Roussy Cancer Institute in France. The research indicates that gut microbiota could potentially serve as a biomarker for advanced NSCLC. Furthermore, the studies suggest that the administration of specific microbiota in conjunction with immune checkpoint inhibitors might enhance therapeutic effectiveness.

Free Research Field

肺がん

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は、Cancer Immunology Research（IF: 12.02）とジョンズホプキンス大学との研究ではClinical Cancer Research（IF: 11.69）で発表され、これら成果は、がん免疫研究の進展に大いに寄与した．特にCancer Immunol Resで発表した論文は、2020-2021年で最も引用された論文の一つとなり、"Best of AACR Journals"に選ばれ、大熊が受賞した。腫瘍細菌叢学への学術的貢献を示すものである。特定の腸内細菌が免疫療法の効果を増強する可能性も示唆され、また抗菌剤の安易な投与を避ける必要があると考えられた。