title: Impact of pelvic radiotherapy on gut microbiota of gynecological cancer patients revealed by massive pyrosequencing.
abstract: Although pelvic irradiation is effective for the treatment of various cancer types, many patients who receive radiotherapy experience serious complications. Gut microbial dysbiosis was hypothesized to be related to the occurrence of radiation-induced complications in cancer patients. Given the lack of clinical or experimental data on the impact of radiation on gut microbiota, a prospective observational study of gut microbiota was performed in gynecological cancer patients receiving pelvic radiotherapy. In the current study, the overall composition and alteration of gut microbiota in cancer patients receiving radiation were investigated by 454 pyrosequencing. Gut microbial composition showed significant differences (P < 0.001) between cancer patients and healthy individuals. The numbers of species-level taxa were severely reduced after radiotherapy (P < 0.045), and the abundance of each community largely changed. In particular, the phyla Firmicutes and Fusobacterium were significantly decreased by 10% and increased by 3% after radiation therapy, respectively. In addition, overall gut microbial composition was gradually remolded after the full treatment course of pelvic radiotherapy. In this set of cancer patients, dysbiosis of the gut microbiota was linked to health status, and the gut microbiota was influenced by pelvic radiotherapy. Although further studies are needed to elucidate the relationship between dysbiosis and complications induced by pelvic radiotherapy, the current study may offer insights into the treatment of cancer patients suffering from complications after radiation therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Life and Nanopharmaceutical Sciences and Department of Biology, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea ; Fermentation and Functionality Research Group, Korea Food Research Institute, Sungnam, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Young-Do
authors.initials: YD
authors.lastname: Nam
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hak Jae
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Cell Biotech Co., Ltd., Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jae-Gu
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.affiliation: Colleges of Nursing, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Seung Wan
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Department of Life and Nanopharmaceutical Sciences and Department of Biology, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jin-Woo
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Bae
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000382:microbiology*; D005833:Genital Neoplasms, Female / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D006801:Humans; D064307:Microbiota / Q000235:genetics; D008875:Middle Aged; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S