Phylogenetic Analysis of Gut Microbiota in Pancreatic Cancer Bearing Mice Reveals Enrichment of Alistipes spp., Clostridium, Prevotellaceae, and Porphyromonadaceae
Introduction: The microbiome—the community of trillions of microorganisms living in and on the human body—plays a significant role in health and disease, including in pancreatic cancer. Research has increasingly shown that the gut and pancreatic microbiomes may influence the development, progression, and therapeutic intervention of pancreatic cancer. Microbiome dysbiosis (an imbalance in microbial communities) has been linked to an altered immune response in pancreatic cancer. Certain bacteria, for instance, promote the recruitment of immunosuppressive cells in the tumor microenvironment, which can enable cancer cells to evade the immune system. Objectives: Determination of unique phylogenetic operational taxonomic units (OTUs) of microbiome responsible for pancreatic cancer development in mice.  Materials & Methods: Isolation of Genomic DNA from fecal matter isolated from healthy mice and mice with subcutaneous PANC-1 human pancreatic cancer xenografts, 16S rDNA PCR and creating amplicon libraries and NG Sequencing, Software analysis of the data generated and identified OTUs of the microbiota. Discussion/Results: A comprehensive data analysis of 16S rDNA sequencing demonstrates increased abundance of several phylogenetic species of bacteria and less abundance of other OTUs of bacteria as per 16S rDNA sequencing data analysis in feces microbiome of mice with pancreatic cancer.