Longitudinal PRIMM Data published in Nature Medicine

Longitudinal PRIMM Data published in Nature Medicine

 

The first longitudinal assessment of metagenomic signatures along the ICI/cancer treatment journey has been published by our grantees in Nature Medicine. The publication entitled “Longitudinal gut microbiome changes in immune checkpoint blockade in advanced melanoma” expands our understanding on how the microbiome may impact response to cancer treatment.

Notably, the study introduces “balance scores” – a collection of bacteria that play crucial roles in both positive and negative associations with treatment response, not just at the beginning but throughout the treatment process.

🔍 So, why is this important?

  • It highlights the necessity of longitudinal sampling, suggesting that a single baseline gut microbiome sample might not capture  how bacteria influence the immune system and treatment response over time.
  • The published balance score, comprising approximately 9 key bacteria, holds potential for translation into diagnostic tools and therapeutic interventions.
  • As a next step the team is analyzing multi-omic data, especially adding a metabolomic layer, promising to further enhance our ability to predict treatment outcomes by understanding microbial function.

Huge congratulations to this impactful collaborations among Johannes Björk, Laura Bolte, Geke Hospers, Rinse Weersma from UMCG; Karla Lee, Veronique Bataille and Tim Spector from KCL and Lisa Derosa, Laurence Zitvogel (IGR), Nicola Segata (University of Turin) and many more.

Please find the full open-access publication here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-024-02803-3

This publication adds to a series of publications from the same cohort, find them here:

Overall, this is paving the way for more personalized and effective cancer treatments.


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