AI Article Synopsis

  • Researchers aimed to identify potential biomarkers that predict patient responses to chemoradiotherapy in locally advanced rectal cancer, given the variability in treatment outcomes.
  • The study analyzed RNA sequencing data from tumor and normal biopsies of 39 rectal cancer patients, focusing on differences between complete responders and those with lesser responses.
  • Findings revealed that complete responders had enriched immune-related gene expressions and specific bacteria present in their tumors, suggesting these factors could serve as potential biomarkers for future clinical applications.

Article Abstract

Background: The gold standard treatment for locally advanced rectal cancer is total mesorectal excision after preoperative chemoradiotherapy. Response to chemoradiotherapy varies, with some patients completely responding to the treatment and some failing to respond at all. Identifying biomarkers of response to chemoradiotherapy could allow patients to avoid unnecessary treatment-associated morbidity rate. While previous studies have attempted to identify such biomarkers, none have reached clinical utility, which may be due to heterogeneity of the cancer. In this study, potential human gene and microbial biomarkers were explored in a cohort of rectal cancer patients who underwent chemoradiotherapy.

Methods: RNA sequencing was carried out on matched tumour and adjacent normal rectum biopsies from patients with rectal cancer with varying chemoradiotherapy responses treated between 2016 and 2019 at two institutions. Enriched genes and microbes from tumours of complete responders were compared with those from tumours of others with lesser response.

Results: In 39 patients analysed, enriched gene sets in complete responders indicate involvement of immune responses, including immunoglobulin production, B cell activation and response to bacteria (adjusted P values <0.050). Bacteria such as Ruminococcaceae bacterium and Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron were documented to be abundant in tumours of complete responders compared with all other patients (adjusted P value <0.100).

Conclusion: These results identify potential genetic and microbial biomarkers of response to chemoradiotherapy in rectal cancer, as well as suggesting a potential mechanism of complete response to chemoradiotherapy that may benefit further testing in the laboratory.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10170257PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/bjsopen/zrad035DOI Listing

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