Despite the therapeutic efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors against some tumours, immune-related side effects remain a large concern. Dubin et al. show in a prospective study of patients with melanoma that new-onset colitis associated with the cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA4) inhibitor ipilimumab correlates with the pre-treatment faecal microbiota. An increase in bacteria from the Bacteroidetes phylum and in microbial pathways of polyamine transport and B vitamin synthesis correlated with increased colitis resistance.
References
Dubin, K. et al. Intestinal microbiome analyses identify melanoma patients at risk for checkpoint-blockade-induced colitis. Nat. Commun. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms10391 (2016)
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Seton-Rogers, S. Biomarkers of immunotherapy-induced colitis. Nat Rev Cancer 16, 129 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc.2016.22
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc.2016.22