KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The study aimed to investigate the differences in intestinal flora, nutritional status, and immune function among patients with obese colon cancer.
- Researchers noted adenocarcinoma had the poorest intestinal flora, nutrition, and immune function.
Juhua Yuan and the team aimed to explore the characteristics of intestinal flora, nutritional status, and immune function in patients with various types of obese colon cancer. By comparing these factors across different cancer types, the study seeks to identify specific patterns and deficiencies associated with obesity.
They performed an inclusive analysis of 64 cases of obese colon cancer diagnosed from June 2018 to January 2020. Patients were classified based on histological staging into adenocarcinoma (24 cases), adenosquamous carcinoma (22 cases), and undifferentiated carcinoma (18 cases).
The study evaluated intestinal flora (including Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, and yeast), nutritional status (measured by Hb, Alb, PA, TFN, and PNI), and immune function (assessed through IgG, IgM, IgA, CD4+, CD8+, and CD4+/CD8+ ratios). Survival curves were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test to examine tumor death, local recurrence, and distant metastasis.
About the analysis, no statistically significant differences were found in intestinal flora (Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, and yeast), nutritional status (Hb, Alb, PA, TFN, and PNI), and immune function (IgG, IgM, IgA, CD4+, CD8+, and CD4+/CD8+) among the different groups.
However, a significant correlation was observed between intestinal flora, nutritional status, and immune function across all three types of cancer. The survival curves for tumor death, local recurrence, and distant metastasis differed significantly among the groups. Notably, the tumor mortality rate, local recurrence rate, and distant metastasis rate for adenocarcinoma were 78.65%, 54.25%, and 48.26%, respectively.
The study concluded that there are differences in intestinal flora, nutritional status, and immune function among different types of obese colon cancer patients, with adenocarcinoma showing the least beneficial intestinal flora, the poorest nutritional status, and the weakest immune function.
The study received no funds.
Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39075373/
Yuan J, Zhang Y, Wu S, et al. (2024). “The intestinal flora and nutritional status and immune function characteristics of obese colon cancer patients.” BMC Gastroenterol. 2024 Jul 29;24(1):237. doi: 10.1186/s12876-024-03304-w. PMID: 39075373.
