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. 2020 Oct;9(5):1937-1944.
doi: 10.21037/tau-20-566.

Compositional differences of gut microbiome in matched hormone-sensitive and castration-resistant prostate cancer

Yufei Liu  1 , Haowen Jiang  1
Affiliations

Compositional differences of gut microbiome in matched hormone-sensitive and castration-resistant prostate cancer

Yufei Liu et al. Transl Androl Urol. 2020 Oct.

Abstract

Background: It is known that gut microbiota can regulate cancer therapies. We hypothesized that gut microbiota may interact with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) in the process of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Here, the differences in gut microbiota between matched hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (HSPC) and CRPC were determined before and after ADT.

Methods: We profiled the fecal microbiota in matched HSPC and CRPC from 21 patients who received ADT at our urological center using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Differences in microbiota were determined with α/β-diversity and LefSe analysis. Functional inference of microbiota was performed with PICRUSt.

Results: The results showed that the gut microbial community in CRPC was significantly altered with increased abundance of several bacterial flora including genus Phascolarctobacterium and Ruminococcus. For functional analyses, bacterial gene pathways involved in terpenoids/polyketides metabolism and ether lipid metabolism were significantly activated in CRPC.

Conclusions: Measurable differences in the gut microbiota were identified between HSPC and CRPC. Functional validations are further needed to ascertain the underlying mechanism of these differential microbiota in the process of CRPC, and their potential as new targets to enhance ADT responses.

Keywords: Prostate cancer (PCa); castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC); gut microbiota; hormone therapy; hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (HSPC).

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: Both authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at http://dx.doi.org/10.21037/tau-20-566). The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Microbial community composition in CRPC and HSPC. (A) Bacterial average relative abundance between CRPC and HSPC at the phylum and genus level; (B) beta diversity based on weighted uniFrac principal coordinate analysis showed no identifiable microbiota clusters between the two cohorts; (C) LefSe analysis of phylotypes with biologically significant differential abundance in CRPC patients. CRPC, castration-resistant prostate cancer; HSPC, hormone-sensitive prostate cancer.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Microbial community composition in metastatic and non-metastatic PCa. (A) Weighted uniFrac principal coordinate analysis showed no identifiable microbiota clusters between the two cohorts; (B) key phylotypes of gut microbiota in metastatic PCa patients. PCa, prostate cancer.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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