Gut microbiome of women diagnosed with breast cancer within Pahang, Malaysia

• Main Authors: Abd Khalid, Nurul Syazwani, Mahno, Noor Ezmas, Dean Tay, Darren, Ahmad, Hajar Fauzan, Kasian, Junaini, Othman, Ahmad Faidzal, Alias, Norsyuhada, Termizi, Sahrol Azmi, Che Mohamed, Siti Kamariah
• Format: Article
• Language: English; English
• Published: British Society of Gastroenterology and BMJ 2022
• Subjects: QR Microbiology; RD Surgery
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/100177/1/HFA%20IDDF2022_abs_eposter.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/100177/7/100177_Gut%20microbiome%20of%20women%20diagnosed.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/100177/; http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2022-IDDF.244

Background Breast cancer is an ongoing issue that is plaguing many young women especially within the regions of Asia. Many factors have been studied thoroughly and have been ruled out over the years. Nevertheless, emergent studies towards the gut microbiome suggest its potential as another cause or treatment to the current predicament. This study aims to elucidate the role of the microbiome in relation to breast cancer by comparing the observed gut flora within healthy individuals to those afflicted with breast cancer in Pahang, Malaysia. Methods Stool samples were collected from all 69 participants. 36 subjects were of newly diagnosed breast cancer patients, pre-treatment while 33 subjects were control group. Samples were homogenized with water prior to performing DNA extraction using standard protocols of QIAamp® PowerFecal® Pro Kit. Metagenome sequencing of V3 variable region of 16S rRNA gene was conducted on a NovaSEQ6000 (Illumina, San Diego, CA) using standard protocols. Data analysis was conducted on the MicrobiomeAnalyst platform using default settings. Results We report a total of 114 695 read counts generated which represents 704 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) from the raw data. IDDF2022-ABS-0263 Figure 1 shows the top 30 features observed among the groups at genus level where it was shown that Holdemanella and Akkermansia were more abundant within the cancer group. Significant beta-diversity results from IDDF2022-ABS-0263 Figure 2 (p-value ≤ 0.001) suggest that the composition between breast cancer patients and healthy individuals are distinct from each other. Furthermore, IDDF2022-ABS-0263 Figure 3A indicates that Holdemanella is significant to the study whereas IDDF2022-ABS-0263 Figure 3B shows that Akkermansia has positive correlations towards breast cancer patients.Conclusions This study found that the microbiome observed within breast cancer patients is indeed different from healthy individuals at least within Pahang, Malaysia. Genera of interest are Holdemanella and Akkermansia which are found to be more abundant within the cancer group. Further studies are warranted to better understand the roles of these features towards breast cancer development or treatment.