A Prospective Evaluation of Multi-Omics as a Predictive Tool for Chemotherapy-Induced Cognitive Impairment
Chemotherapy remains the primary treatment for most cancers worldwide. Whilst efficacious, it causes widespread cytotoxicity and a battery of side effects. Of these, chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment (CICI) has been consistently identified as an unmet need and research priority, due to the impact of cognitive symptoms on quality of life, affecting peoples ability to engage both socially and in the workforce. Here, we explored the feasibility of using multi-omics profiling as a predictive tool for CICI. To assess the feasibility of performing multi omic profiling to predict CICI development, we recruited 20 women with newly diagnosed breast cancer, from whom we collected saliva and stool samples along with comprehensive demographic, diagnostic and dietary data prior to commencing chemotherapy. Neurocognitive symptoms were assessed before, and during the first two cycles of, chemotherapy using the FACT-Cog assessment tool, with 8 of 20 participants (40%) developing self-reported cognitive impairment (FACT-Cog < 106.6). We performed 16S rRNA gene sequencing (V3V4) of stool of saliva from these individuals collected pre-treatment to assess if the microbiota can be used to predict outcomes.