KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The study aimed to investigate intratumoral microbiota as prognostic biomarkers in ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma.
- Researchers found that intratumoral microbiota may be valuable prognostic indicators in OC.
Ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma, accounting for about 90% of ovarian cancers (OC), is frequently diagnosed at advanced stages, leading to suboptimal treatment outcomes. Given the malignant nature of the disease, effective biomarkers for accurate prediction and personalized treatment remain an urgent clinical need.
Hao Qin and the team aimed to address this gap by exploring the potential of intratumoral microbiota as prognostic biomarkers in ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma.
They conducted an inclusive microbial content analysis from 453 ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma and 68 adjacent non-cancerous samples. A univariate Cox regression model was used to identify microorganisms significantly associated with survival, and a prognostic risk score model was constructed using LASSO Cox regression analysis. Patients were subsequently categorized into high-risk and low-risk groups based on risk scores.
About the results, survival analysis revealed that patients in the low-risk group had a higher overall survival rate. A nomogram was constructed for easy visualization of the prognostic model. Analysis of immune cell infiltration and immune checkpoint gene expression in both groups showed that both parameters were positively correlated with the risk level, indicating an increased immune response in higher-risk groups.
The study concluded that microbial profiles in ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma may serve as viable clinical prognostic indicators. It provides novel insights into the potential impact of intratumoral microbial communities on disease prognosis and opens avenues for future therapeutic interventions targeting these microorganisms.
This study is funded by Beijing Natural Science Foundation (L232075), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 82304151 and 32100647), Supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (3332023033), Funding from National Clinical Research Center for Obstetrics and Gynecology (Peking University Third Hospital) (No. BYSYSZKF2023014), Key Clinical Project of Peking University Third Hospital (No. BYSYZD2023036), and the Cancer Hospital of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences-Shenzhen Hospital Cooperation Fund (CFA202202023).
Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38970121/
Qin H, Liu J, Qu Y, et al. (2024). “The intratumoral microbiota biomarkers for predicting survival and efficacy of immunotherapy in patients with ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma.” J Ovarian Res. 2024 Jul 5;17(1):140. doi: 10.1186/s13048-024-01464-7. PMID: 38970121; PMCID: PMC11227176.
